1
as in frail
chronically or repeatedly suffering from poor health
a sickly foal that seemed to catch everything that the other horses had
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in poisonous
bad for the well-being of the body
lungs scarred by years of exposure to the sickly air of the coal mines
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Recent Examples of sickly
The newborn was coughing so badly, her skin turned a sickly gray-blue color.
—
Erika Edwards, NBC news, 17 Dec. 2025
Nevada County sheriff’s officials arrested a Grass Valley man on suspicion of animal cruelty after authorities rescued more than 200 animals from a property where some animals were found dead, sickly or emaciated.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 14 Dec. 2025
The sergeant also reported seeing animals that looked sickly and emaciated, the sheriff's office says.
—Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 12 Dec. 2025
For way too long, the Fabs story had been framed with a sickly sense of nostalgia — a fairy tale from the good old days.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sickly
Erika Edwards, NBC news, 17 Dec. 2025
Nevada County sheriff’s officials arrested a Grass Valley man on suspicion of animal cruelty after authorities rescued more than 200 animals from a property where some animals were found dead, sickly or emaciated.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 14 Dec. 2025
The sergeant also reported seeing animals that looked sickly and emaciated, the sheriff's office says.
—Cecilio Padilla, CBS News, 12 Dec. 2025
For way too long, the Fabs story had been framed with a sickly sense of nostalgia — a fairy tale from the good old days.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sickly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sickly
Adjective
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Few things shake the confidence of a person like crawling to the top bunk of a quivering bed frame, your feet wrapping uncomfortably along the frail metal rungs of the ladder.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
27 Jan. 2026
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Under a cowboy hat and a long poncho, Weir looked visibly frail on stage.—
Paul Liberatore,
Mercury News,
16 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless poisonous gas that at high levels can cause loss of consciousness and death.—
Alexandra Koch,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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Kirk recognized that this crude conspiracism was poisonous to his project of popularizing the conservative cause.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Savannah Guthrie opened the family’s plea by thanking supporters for their prayers before describing her mother as the heart of their family and making a direct appeal for contact, stressing Nancy Guthrie’s fragile health and urgent need for medication.—
Adam Sabes , Michael Ruiz , Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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Biocomputing remains highly experimental, fragile, and difficult to scale.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Dart frogs in captivity aren't generally toxic because they aren't fed the same diet as frogs in the wild, the researchers found.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
15 Feb. 2026
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Tens of thousands of unproductive and unplugged oil wells have been abandoned across California — many of which continue to leak potentially explosive methane or toxic benzene.—
Tony Briscoe,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And the American health care system isn't set up to help people get through it, Mauldin outlines in the book, by way of inaccessible health care, lack of caregiver supports, expensive treatments and an overall de-valuing of sick people and those with disabilities.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
9 Feb. 2026
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In January 2025, a hospital in West Texas began reporting that children were coming in sick with measles.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air.—
Rong-Gong Lin II,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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Health professionals encourage people to use lean cuts of meat because most of the fat in animal products is unhealthful saturated fat, which can raise the risk of heart disease and cancer.—
Bethany Thayer,
Detroit Free Press,
22 June 2024
Adjective
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Bangladesh’s woes have not improved much since Hasina’s ouster, with high inflation and a weak taka currency combining to erode real incomes for ordinary households.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
13 Feb. 2026
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Pinterest posted disappointing fourth-quarter results and gave weak guidance for first-quarter sales.—
Liz Napolitano,Darla Mercado, CFP®,
CNBC,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Along with this comes a lack of awareness about eating disorders, stigma and unhealthy attitudes and assumptions toward mental health from coaches and other athletic personnel, all of which can impede an athlete’s likelihood of seeking care.—
Emily Hemendinger,
The Conversation,
13 Feb. 2026
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Smoking marijuana is also unhealthy, however, because cannabis smoke contains carcinogens, tar and other dangerous elements.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sickly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sickly. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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