Sic or sick?
sic is an adverb meaning “Thus; as written; used to indicate, for example, that text is being quoted as…”; sick is an adjective meaning “In poor health; ill”. Use sic as an adverb and sick as an adjective. They sound the same (/sɪk/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) sick is about 18 times as common as sic.
What is the difference between sic and sick?
| sic | sick | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adverb, verb, noun | adjective, noun, verb |
| Meaning | Thus; as written; used to indicate, for example, that text is being quoted as it is from the source Used in the manner of scare quotes To mark with a bracketed sic | In poor health; ill [with with] Afflicted by (a specific condition, usually medical) AustraliaUKcolloquialVomit |
| Example | He sicced his dog on me! | We have to care for the sick |
| Forms | none | sicker, sickest |
| Pronunciation | /sɪk/ | /ˈsɪk/ |
| In writing | 4.2 times per million words | 76 times per million words |
Sources: sic and sick in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of sic and sick
sic
- 1
Thus; as written; used to indicate, for example, that text is being quoted as it is from the source
- 2
To mark with a bracketed sic
- 3
To incite an attack by, especially a dog or dogs
He sicced his dog on me!
- 4
Initialism of second-in-command
- 5
Used in the manner of scare quotes
- 6
To set upon; to chase; to attack
Sic ’em, Mitzi
- 7
Initialism of School Improvement Council
sick
- 1
In poor health; ill
We have to care for the sick
- 2
AustraliaUKcolloquialVomit
- 3
AustraliaUKcolloquialTo vomit
I woke up at 4 am and sicked on the floor
- 4
[with with] Afflicted by (a specific condition, usually medical)
She was sick all day with the flu
- 5
UKcolloquial(especially in the phrases on the sick and on long-term sick) Any of various current or former benefits or allowances paid by the Government to support the sick, disabled or incapacitated
- 6
To fall sick; to sicken
- 7
Having an urge to vomit
My daughter was violently sick three times in the night
- 8
colloquialMentally unstable, disturbed
You sick bastard!
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, sic or sick?
sic appears 4.2 times per million words; sick 76 times per million words.
sic 4.2 times per million wordssick 76 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search sic vs sick?
“sic vs sick” is searched about 70 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“sick vs sic”, “sic or sick”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.