sick¹ / sik/ • adj. 1. affected by physical or mental illness: nursing very sick children we were sick with bronchitis| [as pl. n.] (the sick) visiting the sick and the elderly. ∎  of or relating to those who are ill: the company organized a sick fund for its workers. ∎ fig. (of an organization, system, or society) suffering from serious problems, esp. of a financial nature: their economy remains sick. ∎ archaic pining or longing for someone or something: he was sick for a sight of her.2. feeling nauseous and wanting to vomit: he was starting to feel sick Mark felt sick with fear. ∎  (of an emotion) so intense as to cause one to feel unwell or nauseous: he had a sick fear of returning. ∎ inf. disappointed, mortified, or miserable: he looked pretty sick at that, but he eventually agreed.3. (sick of) intensely annoyed with or bored by (someone or something) as a result of having had too much of them: I'm absolutely sick of your moods.4. inf. (esp. of humor) having something unpleasant such as death, illness, or misfortune as its subject and dealing with it in an offensive way: this was someone's idea of a sick joke. ∎  (of a person) having abnormal or unnatural tendencies; perverted: he is a deeply sick man from whom society needs to be protected.• n. Brit., inf. vomit.• v. [tr.] (sick something up) inf. bring something up by vomiting.PHRASES: be sick1. be ill.2. vomit.fall (or take) sick become ill.get sick1. become ill.2. vomit.make someone sick cause someone to vomit or feel nauseous or unwell: sherry makes me sick and so do cigars. ∎  cause someone to feel intense annoyance or disgust: you're so damned self-righteous you make me sick!—— oneself sick do something to such an extent that one feels nauseous or unwell (often used for emphasis): she was worrying herself sick about Mike.sick and tired of inf. annoyed about or bored with (something) and unwilling to put up with it any longer: I am sick and tired of all the criticism. (as) sick as a dog inf. extremely ill.the sick man of —— a country that is politically or economically unsound, esp. in comparison with its neighbors in the region specified: the country had been the sick man of Europe for too long.sick to death of inf. another way of saying sick and tired of above.sick to one's stomach nauseous. ∎  disgusted.DERIVATIVES: sick·ish adj.sick² • v. variant of sic² .

sick Sick Man of Europe a nickname for Ottoman Turkey deriving from a reported conversation between Tsar Nicholas I of Russia and Sir George Seymour at St Petersburg on 21 February 1853.

See also the Devil was sick at devil, hope deferred makes the heart sick.

sick ill, ailing OE.; out of condition XIV; weary of XVI; inclined to vomit, vomiting XVII. OE. sēoc = OS. siok (Du. ziek), OHG. sioh (G. siech), ON. sjúkr, Goth. siuks :- Gmc. *seukaz, of unkn. orig.
Hence sicken (-EN5) XII. sickly adj. (-LY1) XIV; whence sick vb. XVII.