sick ‧ en ‧ ing /ˈsɪkənɪŋ, ˈsɪknɪŋ/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ sick , the sick, ↑ sickness , ↑ sicko ; adjective : ↑ sick , ↑ sickening , ↑ sickly ; adverb : ↑ sickeningly , ↑ sickly ; verb : ↑ sicken ]
1 . very shocking, annoying, or upsetting SYN disgusting :
Police described it as a sickening racial attack.
their sickening hypocrisy
it is sickening that
It is sickening that human beings have done this to two innocent young women.
2 . sickening thud/crash/sound etc an unpleasant sound that makes you think someone has been injured or something has been broken:
His head hit the floor with a sickening thud.
There was a sickening sound of tearing metal.
3 . very unpleasant and making you feel as if you want to ↑ vomit :
The sickening stench of rotting rubbish rose into the air.
4 . British English spoken making you feel jealous:
‘Helen’s just bought herself a huge house in the South of France.’ ‘God, how sickening!’
—sickeningly adverb