# sick

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈsɪk/ · frequency rank #1,410

## Definitions
1. In poor health; ill.
2. In poor health; ill.
3. Having an urge to vomit.
4. Mentally unstable, disturbed.
5. In bad taste.
6. [with of] Tired of or annoyed by (something that has lasted a long time or often recurs).
7. Very good, excellent, awesome, badass.
8. In poor condition.
9. Failing to sustain adequate harvests of crop, usually specified.

## Etymology
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 sjuk, Danish syg; also Middle Irish socht (“silence, depression”), Old Armenian հիւծանիմ (hiwcanim, “I am weakening”).
The "very good, excellent" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "in poor health". Compare similar semantic development in terrific and wicked.

## Easily confused with
- **SK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sk)
- **six** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-six)
- **sir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sir)
- **sit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sit)
- **sin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sin)
- **SIM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sim)
- **sip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sip)
- **sis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sis)
- **Sid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sid)
- **sig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sig)
- **sie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sie)
- **SSC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-ssc)
- **sil** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sil)
- **Siu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-siu)
- **SLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-slc)
- **sik** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sik)
- **Sif** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-sif)
- **such** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-such)
- **side** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-side)
- **site** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sick-vs-site)

## Common misspellings (6)
`isck`, `scik`, `sicck`, `sickk`, `sikc`, `ssick`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sick