sickly

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.

adj

1. Frequently ill or in poor health.
   a sickly child
   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.
   … the sharp-scented bottle of crystals that sickly Cousin Bertha had carried to ward off fainting spells. 1982, Anne Tyler, chapter 1, in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, New York: Ballantine, published 2008, page 4
2. Not in good health; (somewhat) sick.
   1782, Samuel Johnson, letter dated 20 March, 1782, in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, 1791, Volume 2, p. 419, The season was dreary, I was sickly, and found the friends sickly whom I went to see.
   1850, Charlotte Brontë, letter dated 29 April, 1850, in Elizabeth Gaskell, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, London: Smith, Elder, 1857, Chapter 6, p. 157, Papa continues far from well; he is often very sickly in the morning,
   Miguel’s temperature was normal that day, though he was still sickly and restless. 1958, Muriel Spark, chapter 9, in Robinson, New York: New Directions, published 2003, page 128
3. (of a plant) Characterized by poor or unhealthy growth.
   … the good wheat on this land had turned sickly and yellow. 1931, Pearl S. Buck, chapter 27, in The Good Earth, New York: Modern Library, published 1944, page 236
   With the aid of the marigolds the roses flourished; in the control beds they were sickly and drooping. 1962, Rachel Carson, chapter 6, in Silent Spring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 79
4. Appearing ill, infirm or unhealthy; giving the appearance of illness.
   a sickly pallor
   1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, London: T. Payne and Son, and T. Cadell, Volume 1, Book 1, Chapter 9, p. 121, … she exhibited a countenance so wretched, and a complection so sickly, that Cecilia was impressed with horror at the sight.
   … he saw him arrive with his usual florid appearance: had he come pale and sickly, Sandford had been kind to him; but in apparent good health and spirits, he could not form his mouth to tell him he was “glad to see him.” 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald, chapter 12, in A Simple Story, volume 3, London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, pages 161–162
   Yossarian … could not wipe from his mind the excruciating image of the barefoot boy with sickly cheeks … 1961, Joseph Heller, chapter 39, in Catch-22, New York: Dell
5. Shedding a relatively small amount of light; (of light) not very bright.
   The Moon grows sickly at the sight of day. 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, London: H. Herringman, published 1667, act II, page 17
   Night, and all her sickly dews, Her Spectres wan, and Birds of boding cry, 1757, Thomas Gray, Odes, Dublin: G. Faulkner and J. Rudd, page 5
   Duncan saw the men through a haze of wire and cigarette smoke and sickly, artificial light; 2006, Sarah Waters, The Night Watch, London: Virago, 1944, section 2, p. 226
6. Lacking intensity or vigour.
   a sickly smile
   What man of soul would … run, Day after day, the still-returning round Of life’s mean offices, and sickly joys; But in compassion to mankind? 1730, James Thomson, The Tragedy of Sophonisba, London: A. Millar, act II, scene 1, page 19
   … my credulous heart … fondly loves to cherish The feeble glimmering of a sickly hope. 1779, Hannah More, The Fatal Falsehood, London: T. Cadell, act II, page 27
7. Associated with poor moral or mental well-being.
   … I know how you came to despise all that sickly Wagnerian idiocy and bombast. 1964, Saul Bellow, Herzog, New York: Viking, page 319
   That he had some sickly compulsion neurosis, they said, was very plain for all eyes to see. 2018, Anna Burns, Milkman, London: Faber & Faber, part 4
8. Tending to produce nausea.
   a sickly smell; sickly sentimentality
   ‘Oh, what is that glides quickly where velvet flowers grow thickly, Their scent comes rich and sickly?’—‘A scaled and hooded worm.’ 1865, Christina Rossetti, “Amor Mundi”, in Goblin Market; The Prince’s Progress; and Other Poems, London: Macmillan, published 1875, page 286
   He had scanty discouraged hair the color of tow, and a sickly, unpleasant breath. 1944, Katherine Anne Porter, “The Leaning Tower”, in The Leaning Tower and Other Stories, New York: Harcourt, Brace, page 173
9. Overly sweet.
   The honey tasted sickly in his mouth. 1950, Mervyn Peake, chapter 80, in Gormenghast, New York: Ballantine, published 1968, page 562
10. (obsolete) Marked by the occurrence of illness or disease (of a period of time).
    a. 1768, Laurence Sterne, undated letter in Original Letters, London: Logographic Press, 1788, pp. 110-111, … if I thought the sentiments of your last letter were not the sentiments of a sickly moment—if I could be made to believe, for an instant, that they proceeded from you, in a sober, reflecting condition of your mind—I should give you over as incurable,
    … the three years immediately following the last period … were years so sickly that the births were sunk to 10,229, and the burials raised to 15,068. 1798, Thomas Malthus, chapter 7, in An Essay on the Principle of Population, London: J. Johnson, page 115
11. (obsolete) Tending to produce disease or poor health.
    a sickly autumn; a sickly climate
    Not far it [the water] runs before it finds a plain In which it spreads itself, and makes it marshy, And oft ’tis wont in summer to be sickly. 1867, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, transl., The Divine Comedy: Inferno, London: Routledge, Canto 20, lines 79-81, p. 64

verb

1. (transitive, archaic, literary) To make (something) sickly.
   Thy Drudge contrives, and in our full career Sicklies our hopes with the pale hue of Fear; 1763, Charles Churchill, An Epistle to William Hogarth, London: for the author, page 12
   […]a cancer gnawing at the root of happiness, defeating every aim at permanent good in this world, and sicklying all sublunary joys[…] 1840, S. M. Heaton, edited by George Heaton, Thoughts on the Litany, by a naval officer’s orphan daughter, London: William Edward Painter, Section 4, p. 58
   He evidently thinks the sweet little innocents never heard or thought of such a thing before, and would go on burying their curly heads in books, and sicklying their rosy faces with “the pale cast of thought” till the end of time[…] 1862, Gail Hamilton, “Men and Women”, in Country Living and Country Thinking, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, page 109
   Ockham was critical of so many of his fellows for sicklying over theology with the obscurities of philosophy. 2000, Ninian Smart, chapter 9, in World Philosophies, New York: Routledge, page 207
2. (intransitive, rare) To become sickly.
   1889, Samuel Cox, An Expositor’s Notebook, London: Richard D. Dickinson, 7th edition, Chapter 26, p. 364, But the seven most prominent Apostles […] still hang together, their hearts tormented with eager yet sad questionings, their hopes fast sicklying over with the pale hues of doubt.

adv

1. In a sick manner; in a way that reflects or causes sickness.
   sickly pale; to cough sickly
   […] he sickly guess’d How lone he was once more, and sadly press’d His empty arms together […] 1818, John Keats, Endymion, London: Taylor and Hessey, Book 2, lines 859-861, p. 93
   The dazed man stared sickly at Casy. 1939, John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, New York: Viking, published 1962, Chapter, p. 364
   For ten brutal minutes he was in torment, then the pain gradually eased. He felt sickly limp but relieved, thankful for his good health. 1961, Bernard Malamud, A New Life, Penguin, published 1968, Chapter, p. 185
   The creaseless horizontal face of the giant smiled sickly, leering. 2010, Rowan Somerville, chapter 9, in The End of Sleep, New York: Norton, page 66