ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sickening

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈsɪkənɪŋ// UK //sˈɪkənɪŋ// sick·en·ing

adj. making you feel very upset, shocked, or physically ill. You use this to describe something that is extremely unpleasant or morally wrong.

adj. causing a feeling of physical nausea or intense moral revulsion. Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'feel' or 'be'.


SIMPLE

The smell of the old food was sickening.

CONTEXTUAL

It was sickening to watch the powerful company take advantage of the poor families.

COMPLEX

The witness provided a sickening account of the accident, detailing the events with a level of graphic precision that left the courtroom in stunned silence.

Synonyms
Origin

By surface analysis, sicken + -ing.

Usage

Often follows linking verbs such as 'feel', 'look', or 'be'; can also modify nouns directly.

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