sjuk

Sjuk is a Swedish adjective meaning ill or unwell. It describes people or animals that are not healthy, typically due to disease, injury, or temporary malaise. The word appears in everyday speech, as in “Hon är sjuk” (She is sick) or “Jag är fortfarande sjuk” (I am still ill), and it is common in medical and health-related contexts.

Related words include sjukdom (disease), sjukskrivning (sick leave), sjukvård (healthcare), and sjuksköterska (nurse). The noun form sjuka can refer to illnesses collectively, while the opposite term is frisk (healthy).

Etymology and cognates: Sjuk is a native Swedish word with cognates in other Scandinavian languages. Danish uses syg for sick, and Norwegian uses syk or sjuk depending on the dialect, illustrating a shared Germanic heritage in the sense of illness.

Grammar and usage: As a standard adjective, sjuk inflects for gender and number. Examples: en sjuk man (a sick man), ett sjukt barn (a sick child). Definite forms: den sjuka mannen, det sjuka barnet. Plural: de sjuka människorna, sjuka människor. The word is versatile in everyday language and appears in set phrases such as “sjuk och trött” (sick and tired).

Context notes: In Swedish, frisk is used to describe health, while sjuk describes illness. In formal medical writing, precise terms for specific conditions are often preferred, but sjuk remains the common everyday descriptor for general unwellness.