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sick

/ˈsɪk/adjective, noun, verb

sick is spelled S-I-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 76 times per million words in written English, the 1,394th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “sic vs sick” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, sick means “In poor health; ill” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in sick?

Letters4: S-I-C-K
Syllables1
In writing76 times per million words; the 1,394th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is sick?

Sick appears 76 times per million words in written English, the 1,394th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce sick?

  • /ˈsɪk/

Sick has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-sick.ogg, En-us-sick.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with sick

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

sic vs sick70 G

Sounds like: sic (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: sic, sik.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of sick

  • sicker comparative
  • sickest superlative
  • sicks present, singular, he/she/it
  • sicking participle, present
  • sicked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does sick mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    In poor health; ill.

    We have to care for the sick.

  2. 2

    [with with] Afflicted by (a specific condition, usually medical).

    She was sick all day with the flu.

  3. 3

    Having an urge to vomit.

    My daughter was violently sick three times in the night.

  4. 4

    colloquialMentally unstable, disturbed.

    You sick bastard!

  5. 5

    colloquialIn bad taste.

    That’s a sick joke.

  6. 6

    [with of] Tired of or annoyed by (something that has lasted a long time or often recurs).

    sick and tired of the whining–sick of waiting–'sick of politics

  7. 7

    slangVery good, excellent, awesome, badass.

    This tune is sick.

  8. 8

    In poor condition.

    sick building syndrome; my car is looking pretty sick; my job prospects are pretty sick

noun

  1. 1

    AustraliaUKcolloquialVomit.

  2. 2

    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.

verb

  1. 1

    AustraliaUKcolloquialTo vomit.

    I woke up at 4 am and sicked on the floor.

  2. 2

    To fall sick; to sicken.

  3. 3

    rareAlternative spelling of sic (“set upon”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Sick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchles malades (ill, used as a substantive: sick people…), nauséeux, nauséeuse (having an urge to vomit), en avoir marre (tired (of), annoyed (by)), malade (colloquial: mentally unstable, disturbed), de malade (slang: very good, excellent)
Portuguesedoentes, enfermos (ill, used as a substantive: sick people…), enjoado (tired (of), annoyed (by)), animal, irado, louco (slang: very good, excellent)
Spanishmareado (having an urge to vomit), harto (tired (of), annoyed (by)), cagante (slang: very good, excellent)
Germanleid, es satthaben (tired (of), annoyed (by)), durch den Wind (colloquial: mentally unstable, disturbed), geisteskrank (slang: very good, excellent), übel, krank (colloquial: in bad taste)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does sick come from?

From Middle English sik, sike, seek, seke, seok, from Old English sēoc (“sick, ill”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuk, from Proto-Germanic *seukaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sewg- (“to be troubled or grieved”). See also West Frisian siik, Dutch ziek, German siech, Norwegian Bokmål syk, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish sjuk, Danish syg; also Middle Irish socht (“silence, depression”), Old Armenian հիւծանիմ (hiwcanim, “to be weakening”). The "very good, excellent" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "in poor health".

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after sick