Translation guide
Describes someone who is often ill, weak in health, or has an unhealthy appearance. Also used for things that evoke sickness, like smells or colors.
Describing a person who gets sick frequently or has a weak constitution.
Standard term for a person with a weak constitution who is often ill. Can be used as a noun or na-adjective.
彼は病弱で、よく学校を休む。
He is sickly and often misses school.
Literally 'body is weak'. A very common, natural way to say someone is sickly or frail.
子供の頃は体が弱くて、よく入院していた。
As a child I was sickly and was often hospitalized.
More formal or medical term for physical weakness or frailty. Often used in compounds like 虚弱体質 (constitutionally weak).
彼女は虚弱体質で、少しの運動でも疲れてしまう。
She has a sickly constitution and gets tired even from a little exercise.
Literally 'many illnesses'. A somewhat literary or formal term for being sickly.
多病な人生を送った。
He led a sickly life.
Describing someone who looks pale, weak, or unwell.
Literally 'complexion is bad'. The most common way to say someone looks sickly or pale.
今日は顔色が悪いけど、大丈夫？
You look sickly today, are you okay?
Pale, often with a sickly or unhealthy connotation. Can also describe light or colors.
彼は青白い顔をしている。
He has a sickly pale face.
Colloquial: 'like a sick person'. Used when someone looks sickly or unwell.
そんな病人みたいな顔して、どうしたの？
Why the sickly face? What's wrong?
Means 'pathological' or 'morbid', but can describe a sickly appearance or unhealthy obsession.
Describing something that causes a feeling of sickness or disgust, like an overly sweet smell or a lurid color.
Literally 'to induce nausea'. Used for sickly smells, tastes, or sights.
部屋中に吐き気を催すような甘い匂いが漂っていた。
A sickly sweet smell hung in the room.
Colloquial verb meaning to feel sick or disgusted. Often used for unpleasant smells, tastes, or situations.
このむかつくような甘さが苦手だ。
I can't stand this sickly sweetness.
Literally 'chest becomes bad', meaning to feel sick or nauseated. Used for sickly sensations.
その絵の色合いは見ていると胸が悪くなる。
The colors of that painting are sickly to look at.
To retch or gag. Stronger than むかつく, used for a sickly reaction that almost causes vomiting.
腐った魚の臭いでえずいた。
The sickly smell of rotten fish made me gag.
Describing something overly emotional, sentimental, or cloying to the point of being unpleasant.
Sentimental, often with a negative nuance of being overly emotional or maudlin.
その映画は感傷的すぎて、見ていられなかった。
The movie was so sickly sentimental I couldn't watch it.
Vulgar slang for something disgustingly sentimental or sickening. Literally 'chest-shit bad'.
あのドラマの最終回は胸糞悪いほど泣かせようとしてた。
The finale of that drama was trying to be tear-jerking in a sickly way.
病弱 is a more formal, written term often used in medical or descriptive contexts. 体が弱い is the everyday spoken phrase for being sickly or frail. Use 体が弱い in casual conversation.
The English word 'sickly' covers both frequent illness and nauseating qualities. In Japanese, these are expressed with different words. Do not use 病気っぽい (byōki-ppoi) for 'sickly' as it means 'seems sick' rather than 'prone to sickness'.
彼の病的なまでに痩せた姿が心配だ。
I'm worried about his sickly thin appearance.
Literally 'sickly sweet', used for cloying tastes, smells, or overly sentimental expressions.
彼の甘ったるいラブレターにはうんざりだ。
I'm fed up with his sickly sweet love letters.