I. ˈsiklē, -li adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English siklich, sekly, from sik, sek sick + -lich, -ly -ly — more at sick
1. : somewhat sick : disposed to illness : habitually ailing
a sickly body
sickly children
2.
a. : produced by or associated with sickness
a sickly complexion
a sickly appetite
b. archaic : of or relating to a sick person or to sickness
3. : characterized by the presence of sickness : attended with disease
a sickly place
a sickly season
the sickly aims, the false ideals, of our age — Oscar Wilde
4. : producing or tending to disease : unhealthy
a sickly climate
5.
a.
(1) : appearing as if sick : weak , languid , pale
uneasy influence of that sickly moonlight — David Kidd
lamp burning with a sickly flame
(2) : wretched , unhappy , uneasy
a sickly smile
a sickly attempt at humor
shared their sickly social unease — Herbert Gold
b. : resembling in state a sickly person
a sickly plant
a sickly mind
sickly beer
6.
a. : tending to produce nausea
the air was sickly with the odor of locust beans — Norman Lewis
b. : disgusting or repelling by reason of being weak, silly, or sentimental : mawkish
why do they want to play those sickly waltzes — Winifred Bambrick
Synonyms: see unwholesome
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
: to make sick or sickly (as in hue) — usually used with over
sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought — Shakespeare
an era which has been sicklied over with doubt — John Lodge
III. adverb
Etymology: sick (I) + -ly
: in a sick manner or condition : ill
heart lurched sickly as the footsteps attacked the stairs — Marcia Davenport