Sykelig

Sykelig is an adjective used in Danish and Norwegian to describe something related to illness or a condition that is unhealthy. It can refer to a person’s physical health, as in en sygelig tilstand (a sickly condition) or a visibly impaired appearance, and it can also describe mental or emotional states when they are excessive or morbid. In figurative use, sykelig denotes tendencies, interests, or fears that are out of proportion or unhealthy, such as sykelig interesse (morbid fascination) or sykelig frygt (morbid fear).

Etymology: The word is formed from syg meaning “sick” together with the suffix -elig, meaning “characterized by” or “related to.” The result is sykelig, meaning unhealthy or morbid. The term has cognates in other Scandinavian languages; Norwegian uses the identical spelling.

Usage: The term is common in both formal and colloquial Danish and Norwegian. In medical contexts it can describe genuine illness; in everyday language it is used figuratively to describe excessive or pathological behavior. Examples include en sygelig tilstand (a pathological condition), en sykelig trang (a morbid urge), and sykelig fascination med døden (morbid fascination with death).

Related concepts include illness and pathological or morbid states.