Meanings
nounsickie (plural sickies)
plural sickies · alternative sicky
- UKslangA day, or time, off work due to (supposed) illness.First known use 1950s
Sickies are when one really is sick, but, y’know, probably not to the extent that merits a day off. It’s the exaggerated head cold. It’s the sore throat overdramatised by a theatrical croak.
2021 July 9, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “The sickie may be a guilty pleasure, but sometimes you just need a duvet day”, in The Guardian, →ISSN - slangA person who is unwell.
I'll tell you why, because I'm a sickie! But I'm getting cured.
1984, Victor Bumbalo, Niagara Falls and Other Plays, page 163
Origin
From sick + -ie, from sick leave.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish saikku
- saikkua day, or time, off work due to supposed or feigned illness
Māori hararei whakangehengehe
- hararei whakangehengehea day, or time, off work due to supposed or feigned illness
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sickie
wikistickyRickytrickytikiVickyhickeydickeypickyquickiedickieickychickypiccywickyblickeyblickybrickiebrickycliqueycrickyflickylickypikkie
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
sickie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sickie
MLA
“sickie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sickie. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sickie,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sickie.
Source: sickie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.