Sygelig

Sygelig is an adjective used in Danish to describe something morbid, sickly, or pathological. It can refer to medical conditions, abnormal or excessive behaviors, or phenomena perceived as unhealthy or deviant. In everyday Danish, it often conveys a sense of severity beyond mere illness and can apply to both physical and psychological traits.

Etymology and related forms: The word derives from the Danish root syg, meaning sick, combined with the adjectival suffix -lig, producing a meaning akin to “sick-like” or “pathological.” The form reflects typical Danish word formation for describing qualities or states.

Cross-linguistic notes: The Danish term has a closely related cognate in Norwegian Bokmål, sykelig, which carries the same general sense. In Swedish, the corresponding term is sjuklig. In English, closest translations are sickly, morbid, or pathological.

Usage: In Danish, sygelig is common in medical, clinical, and literary contexts to characterize conditions or tendencies that are unusually severe, unhealthy, or abnormal. It is less common in casual speech for everyday ailments, where simpler terms might be used. The noun form related to this adjective is used in discussions of pathology or abnormality, though it is relatively infrequent.

See also: Pathology, Morbidity, Syg.

References: Danish dictionaries and language resources describe sygelig as meaning morbid or pathological, reflecting its use in medical and descriptive contexts.