sickening 1 of 2

Definition of sickeningnext

sickening

2 of 2

verb

present participle of sicken

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sickening
Adjective
Andes virus, a type of hantavirus, has sparked global concern in recent weeks after causing the death of three passengers and sickening at least eight others aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship traveling from Argentina across the Atlantic. Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 18 May 2026 Accumulating plastic waste is overwhelming waterways and oceans, sickening marine life and threatening human health. Susanne Rust follow, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2026
Verb
Fecal matter may also have contaminated the drinking water supply at Vindolanda fort, sickening the residents. Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 22 Dec. 2025 Flu season was particularly brutal last year, sickening at least 47 million Americans, hospitalizing 610,000 and killing 27,000, according to the CDC. Liz Szabo, NBC news, 25 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sickening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sickening
Adjective
  • This blood and other stuff that blew out on the road is disgusting, and the smell is really awful.
    Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 26 May 2026
  • Both are also, objectively speaking, disgusting.
    Ben Travers, IndieWire, 22 May 2026
Verb
  • The young Forster recoiled from the school’s culture of authoritarianism and militaristic chauvinism, which may have found expression in the students’ often appalling attitudes toward their own mothers.
    Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 7 May 2026
  • Of all the recent poster boys for appalling misbehavior by the State Police, Michael Proctor would of course rank number one.
    Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • His slugging percentage is horrible.
    Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2026
  • Some of it had to do with horrible tragedy, some because hopefuls could not see the math working out for them.
    Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026
Verb
  • While there are dismemberments and other bits of gruesome violence to be found in the film, Badlands is largely aimed at endearing its audience rather than repulsing them.
    Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Some predict ‘awful consequences’ However, the US has its own specialized network of hospitals that are highly equipped to treat Ebola patients that some experts say would be much better utilized.
    Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN Money, 27 May 2026
  • Lean says the experience had an awful effect on him, filling him with shame and a reluctance to direct again.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 27 May 2026
Verb
  • The complications are horrifying doctors.
    Sara Moniuszko, USA Today, 29 May 2026
  • In the years since Boogie Nights, Leo has made an unlikely hit out of The Man in the Iron Mask, then took the role of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, showing off his range and turning that surreal and often horrifying movie into another $100 million feather in his cap.
    Joe Reid, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • But, following a string of disappointing national-team performances, including failing to qualify for the 1958 World Cup and shocking losses to both the Soviet Union and North Korea at the 1966 edition, the league reinstated the ban.
    Albert Samaha, New Yorker, 30 May 2026
  • Somebody Somewhere — a naturalistic, moving three-season performance that culminated in a shocking Emmy win for best supporting actor last year.
    David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 30 May 2026
Adjective
  • Lemieux was 37, and had a reputation as one of those players who knew where to be, and when, around the ugly areas on the ice in a playoff game.
    Mac Engel May 29, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 May 2026
  • We, viewers and voters, are subjected to very ugly photographs and rhetoric.
    DP Opinion, Denver Post, 29 May 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Sickening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sickening. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.

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