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” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,018. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,018
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Frequently ill or in poor health; weakly.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sickly · sickly · English

sickly · rank #28,018 · 10 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,018
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH showbiz

Nearest frequency peer: showbiz (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sickly”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sickly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

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)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sickly”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “showbiz” (#28,017), “Siegfried” (#28,019), “Severn” (#28,016). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sickly” is #28,018. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around sickly (IPA /ˈsɪkli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #28,018 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sickly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. a sickly child
  2. 1759, Tobias Smollett, letter dated 16 March, 1759, in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, Volume 1, p. 190, … the boy is a sickly lad, of a delicate frame, and particularly subject to a malady in his throat, which renders him very unfit for his Majesty’s service.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sickly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Severn#28,016Simeon#28,020Seamus#28,011stingy#28,034

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

snooker10 variantsSalazar10 variantsSumatra10 variantspricks10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list