# sick man

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/sick-man
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A weak member of a peer group, especially the weakest.

## Examples

- He is the sick man of the team.
- The company struggled to recover because its largest department had become the sick man of the organization.
- Once a dominant force in the global market, the industry is now widely regarded as the sick man of the national economy.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.