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Glite Dictionary
greensick

greensick

9.9
Someone who looks pale and greenish from being weak with illness
  • adjective
  • /ˈɡriːnˌsɪk/
  • Archaic
translation icon : chlorótica
  • The doctor diagnosed her as greensick and prescribed a change of diet.

Examples

  • In Victorian novels, a young woman might be called greensick if she appeared pallid and listless.

  • The greensick girl looked pale and weak.

  • Poets once described pale, greensick maidens wasting away in solitude.

  • Is she greensick again this week?

  • In Victorian novels, a young woman might be called greensick if she appeared pallid and listless.

  • Poets once described pale, greensick maidens wasting away in solitude.

  • The doctor diagnosed her as greensick and prescribed a change of diet.

Synonyms

green
vsgreensick
22 6.2

Looking pale and unwell, as if about to be sick

means a medical pale greenish condition especially in young women
chlorotic
vsgreensick
  • Specialized
9.9

Pale yellow in leaves that lack green or in people with little red blood

is archaic and limited to a pale greenish complexion in young women

Surface Forms

greensick positive

Morphology

greensick = green + sick (semi-transparent) = green + sick

The meaning is built from 'green' + 'sick' and is broadly guessable as 'sick with a greenish (pale) complexion', but the term is archaic and refers to a specific medical condition (chlorosis).

Etymology

Greensick comes from the simple parts green and sick and named the old condition called 'green sickness', when someone looked pale and a little green. So, greensick meant pale and weak and referred to an old form of anemia.