sick lit

noun

Literature focusing on an ill character or characters.

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Meanings

nounsick lit (uncountable)

alternative sick-lit · alternative sicklit

  1. derogatoryoftenuncountableLiterature focusing on an ill character or characters.

    Despite being another installation in what has been coined the "sick-lit" genre (think Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper) […]

    2013 October, Ali Millington, “Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars”, in City OnTopic, page 20
    2 more examples

    Often called "ten-hankie-novels" or "tearjerkers," teen sick-lit utilizes a characteristic formula that combines an illness plotline with a romance plotline.

    2014, Julie Passanante Elman, Chronic Youth: Disability, Sexuality, and U.S. Media Cultures of Rehabilitation, page 94

    This compelling debut will undoubtedly be consigned to the 'sicklit' genre, but don't expect any heartrending descriptions of teens fading heroically from the lives of everyone who encounters them.

    2015 September, Lynndy Bennett, “Kids to Young Adults”, in Gleebooks Gleaner, page 10

Origin

sick + lit (“literature”), as a play on chick lit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sick lit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sick%20lit

MLA

“sick lit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sick%20lit. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sick lit,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sick%20lit.

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