sickening
/ˈsɪkənɪŋ
/adjective
1Causing or liable to cause a feeling of nausea or disgust: a sickening stench of blood she hit the ground with a sickening thud...
- The sickening stench of blood hit him like a tidal wave.
- The limp body fell to the ground with a sickening thud, splattering blood all over the road.
- Fear washed over her again, with a sickening nausea too.
Synonyms
nauseating, stomach-turning, stomach-churning, repulsive, revolting, disgusting, repellent, repugnant, appalling, abominable, hideous, horrible, awful, dreadful, terrible, obnoxious, nauseous, vile, nasty, foul, loathsome, offensive, objectionable, off-putting, distasteful, disagreeable, uninviting;
abhorrent, despicable, reprehensible, contemptible, odious, heinous, obscene, hateful, execrable;
gruesome, grisly;
North American vomitous
informal sick-making, ghastly, putrid, horrid, God-awful, gross, gut-churning, yucky, icky, cringe-making
British informal beastly
Northern Irish informal bogging
North American informal skanky
literary noisome
archaic disgustful, loathly
rare rebarbative
1.1 informal Causing great annoyance or disappointment: it is sickening to think we had done enough to win and then had to leave with nothing...
- Perhaps the most sickening fact is that they have been able to frighten a small number of our older people into believing that they will not be able to afford to pay for vital services.
Derivatives
sickeningly
/ adverb ...- It's maddeningly, sickeningly and disgustingly humid over here.
- It was a sickeningly hot summer, leading to disease which, combined with malnutrition, took a heavy toll on Napoleon's troops.
- The pressure will be unbearable, the stakes sickeningly high.