sickening

Syllables: sick·en·ing/ˈsɪk(ə)nɪŋ/

sickening is the present participle and gerund of sicken.

Adjective

sickening (comparative more sickening, superlative most sickening)

Causing sickness or disgust.
- sickening cruelty
- sickening toxic fumes
(LGBTQ slang) Amazing, fantastic.
- Richard Cranium does sickening stuff (if your budget permits), stones from Charles Brennan and lots of imagination.2014, The Infamous Todd Kachinski Kottmeier, Drag King Guide: So You Want to Be a Male Impersonator, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 188
- Latrice lives every day by her mantra, “It’s OK to make mistakes. It’s OK to fall down. Get up, look sickening, and make them eat it!” Translation: rise above your downfalls in life, and always look amazing while dismissing the haters.2016, Juackie Huba, Shelly Stewart Kronbergs, Fiercely You: Be Fabulous and Confident by Thinking Like a Drag Queen, Berret-Koehler, →ISBN
Synonyms:

cunty, mother

sicken (third-person singular simple present sickens, present participle sickening, simple past and past participle sickened)

(transitive) To make ill.
- The infection will sicken him until amputation is needed.
(intransitive) To become ill.
- I will sicken if I don’t get some more exercise.
(transitive) To fill with disgust or abhorrence.
- His arrogant behaviour sickens me.
To lower the standing of.
- Whenever I get booed by opposition fans it only makes me more determined to sicken them.2007, Euan Reedie, Alan Shearer: Portrait Of A Legend - Captain Fantastic, →ISBN
(intransitive) To be filled with disgust or abhorrence.
- Mine eyes did sicken at the sight.1607, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra
(intransitive) To become disgusting or tedious.
- The toiling pleasure sickens into pain.1770, Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village

sickening (plural sickenings)

The act of making somebody sick.
- In the Northeast, one porcini look-alike has been implicated in several sickenings. It is Boletus huronensis, and though some guides call it edible, there have been a few cases of people becoming sickened following a meal of this mushroom.2010, Greg A. Marley, Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares

By surface analysis, sicken + -ing.

What does sickening mean?: Sickening means causing sickness or disgust.
What is sickening the present participle and gerund of?: Sickening is the present participle and gerund of sicken.
What part of speech is sickening?: Sickening can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce sickening?: Sickening is pronounced /ˈsɪk(ə)nɪŋ/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: sickening (page history and authors); sicken (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-sickening.ogg.

Cite this entry: “sickening.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sickening. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.