call in sick

verb

To inform one's workplace or school that one temporarily cannot attend work or school due to illness.

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Meanings

verbcall in sick (third-person singular simple present calls in sick, present participle calling in sick, simple past and past participle called in sick)

present singular third person calls in sick · participle present calling in sick · participle past called in sick · past called in sick

  1. informalintransitiveTo inform one's workplace or school that one temporarily cannot attend work or school due to illness.

    "It only overloaded because of how low the power was when I fired! The guns are constantly being recharged tonight, and you should've called in sick back then!" "IT'S HARD TO CALL IN SICK WHEN ALL YOU CAN SAY IS 'MEOW'!"

    2005 December 2, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Friday, Dec 2, 2005

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
call offcall out sick

Translations

French se faire porter pâle
  • se faire porter pâleto inform one's workplace or school that one temporarily cannot attend work or school due to illness
Spanish llamar enfermo
  • llamar enfermoto inform one's workplace or school that one temporarily cannot attend work or school due to illness
Cite this entry
APA

call in sick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20in%20sick

MLA

“call in sick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20in%20sick. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “call in sick,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/call%20in%20sick.

Source: call in sick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.