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Glite Dictionary
air sick

air sick

4.6
Feeling sick or dizzy when flying
  • adjective
translation icon : mareado
  • Many passengers felt air sick during the turbulent flight.

Examples

  • If you start to feel air sick, try to focus on the horizon.

  • So you're not air sick?

    Druid Peak (2014)

  • She always carries ginger candy because it helps her when she gets air sick.

Synonyms

sick
vsair sick
579 1.0

Feeling like you might throw up

is restricted to nausea resulting from air travel
queasy
vsair sick
30 4.1

Feeling sick and likely to throw up

is stronger and tied to the experience of flying in aircraft
nauseated
vsair sick
10 4.5

Feeling sick and likely to vomit

is caused specifically by flying in an aircraft
airsick
vsair sick
1 5.0

Feeling sick on a plane because it moves

has identical meaning but is written as two separate words

How Sick

ill
632 1.0
air sick
4.6
nauseous
66 4.4
unwell
18 1.0
queasy
30 4.1

Surface Forms

air sick positive

Morphology

air + sick

The meaning 'feeling nauseous from flying' is directly and transparently composed from 'air' (relating to flight/aircraft) + 'sick' (nauseous). This adjective pattern is predictable in English and found across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The adjective air sick comes from the simple image of being sick up in the air, like someone who is 'sea sick' on a boat when it moves. So air sick means 'feeling sick while flying'.