SICKLY Synonyms: 59 Similar and Opposite Words

sickly

adjective

ˈsi-klē

Definition of sickly

as in frail

chronically or repeatedly suffering from poor health a sickly foal that seemed to catch everything that the other horses had

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in poisonous

bad for the well-being of the body lungs scarred by years of exposure to the sickly air of the coal mines

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of sickly The 2019 post on the notorious image board’s /x/ forum included a disquieting photo of an empty hallway bathed in sickly light. — Miles Klee, Wired News, 30 May 2026 First, the spots appear, then leaves yellow and fall off the plant, and your rose bush turns into a sickly collection of sticks with no flower buds in sight. — Leanne Potts, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 May 2026 If your once-vigorous plant is starting to look sickly, spider mites may be the culprits. — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 19 May 2026 The sickly childhoods of children’s literature likely reflect a number of factors. — Veronique Greenwood, Time, 11 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for sickly

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sickly

Adjective

What will happen when residents who are relatively young, active, and healthy become more frail and need higher levels of care?

— Howard Gleckman, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

— Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of frail

Adjective

For this reason, these poisonous mushrooms are more commonly confused with other types of edible mushrooms like chicken of the woods and chanterelles (more on these in a minute).

— Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 6 Aug. 2026
Perhaps ducks had been used as bio-processors, feeding on toads and metabolizing their poisonous compounds so that humans could safely consume them.

— Kimon de Greef, Longreads, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of poisonous

Adjective

The latter can be ceramic (which is unfortunately fragile), steel (usually with a protective chrome finish) or wood.

— BestReviews, Chicago Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
Construction accidents are common in India, where rapid infrastructure growth often collides with fragile geology, construction lapses, extreme weather and safety standards.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of fragile

Adjective

Patterson had been accused of deliberately seeking out the world’s most toxic mushrooms, death caps, after potentially seeing their location posted on iNaturalist, a citizen science website.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
The complaint cites a couple of other instances of IPI’s use of the word toxic to describe Davis Gates and the CTU.

— The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of toxic

Adjective

Between 60% and 70% of new Ebola cases are being detected among people who were not already being monitored as contacts, meaning health workers may only discover infections after patients become sick and have had opportunities to expose others.

— ABC News, ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026
News host had brain surgery to remove a tumor, her mother got diagnosed with brain cancer, her younger brother, Peter, suffered injuries from a car accident, and her father got very sick a week before her wedding.

— Diane J. Cho, PEOPLE, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of sick

Adjective

Warnings of unhealthful air quality remained in effect Saturday across a wide swath of the United States due to smoke from Canadian wildfires that has engulfed the Northeast in haze for days.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2026
The soil may contain pathogens, pesticides and other unhealthful things.

— Joan Morris, Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2026

Definition of unhealthful

Adjective

The Commerce Department released a report Friday showing weak retail sales in July.

— CBS News, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Following his coach and uncle Toni’s advice, Nadal finally beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2008, breaking Federer’s Open-Era-record five-year winning streak on grass, by playing high balls to Federer’s back hand, his weak point.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of weak

Adjective

Not talking about the consequences of life-threatening weight loss could unintentionally send a message that unhealthy levels of thinness is an ideal body type to aspire to.

— Miranda Roberts, The Conversation, 17 Aug. 2026
But in the early 1970s, Hollywood was embracing sequels out of desperation in the midst of what was an extremely unhealthy distribution business.

— Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of unhealthy

Browse Nearby Words

sickliness

sickly

sickness

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“Sickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sickly. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of sickly

adjective

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