sickly

/ˈsɪkli/

//ˈsɪkli// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sickly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sickly” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #28,018 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#28,018
frequency rank, English
6
letters
10
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sickly vs silly
67% similar
sickly vs silky
67% similar
sickly vs sucky
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sickly
PropertyValue
Headwordsickly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsɪkli/
Letters6
Frequency rank#28,018
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sickly” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). sickly lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for sickly is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɪkli/. Corpus data places it at rank #28,018 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for sickly, with forms such as "isckly", "scikly", and "sicckly". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "silly", "silky", "sucky", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle (“sickly”) and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr (“sickly”). Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich, Danish s… The correct English form is sickly, spelled S-I-C-K-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.
  2. 2
    Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
  3. 3
    Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth. (of a plant)
  4. 4
    Appearing ill, infirm or unhealthy; giving the appearance of illness.
  5. 5
    Shedding a relatively small amount of light; (of light) not very bright.
  6. 6
    Lacking intensity or vigour.
  7. 7
    Associated with poor moral or mental well-being.
  8. 8
    Tending to produce nausea.
  9. 9
    Overly sweet.
  10. 10
    Marked by the occurrence of illness or disease (of a period of time).
  11. 11
    Tending to produce disease or poor health.

Etymology

From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle (“sickly”) and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr (“sickly”). Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich, Danish sygelig, Swedish sjuklig, Icelandic sjúklegur. The verb is from the adjective.

This word in other languages

enfermizo(Español)maladif(Français)kränklich(Deutsch)doentio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: isckly,scikly,sicckly,sickkly,sicklly,sicklyy,sickyl,siclky,sikcly,ssickly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sickly - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

isckly2scikly2sicckly1sickkly1sicklly1sicklyy1sickyl2siclky2
Edit distance from "sickly"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sickly"?
"sickly" is spelled S-I-C-K-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsɪkli/.
What does "sickly" mean?
As an adjective, "sickly" means: Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.
What words are commonly confused with "sickly"?
"sickly" is commonly confused with "silly", "silky", "sucky". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sickly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sickly" is /ˈsɪkli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sickly"?
From Middle English seekly, sekely, siklich, sekeliche, equivalent to sick + -ly. Possibly a modification of Old English sīcle (“sickly”) and/or derived from Old Norse sjúkligr (“sickly”). Cognate with Dutch ziekelijk, Middle High German siechlich... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “sickly”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-I-C-K-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈsɪkli/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “silly” - see the side-by-side comparison. sickly vs silly
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list