Sick Of: Standard Pattern
Sick Of: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than turning one attested complement into a universal prohibition.
Use “sick of” when someone is annoyed or tired of a person, thing, or repeated situation.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| annoyed, bored, or tired because something has continued or happened repeatedly | sick of + noun/pronoun | Use the documented pattern. |
| annoyed or tired of an activity | sick of + -ing | Use the same complement pattern with a gerund. |
| literal illness rather than annoyance/tiredness | choose wording for the literal medical meaning | Do not force the idiom when literal sickness is meant. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Do you mean annoyed, bored, or tired of the person, thing, or repeated situation?
If yes: Use “sick of.”
If no: Choose wording that matches the literal or other intended meaning.
Caveat: The guide covers the idiomatic “annoyed/tired of” sense documented by the source, not every meaning of “sick.”
Examples
I am sick of the constant delays.
The complement names the repeated problem.
She is sick of waiting for updates.
The gerund names the repeated activity.
They were sick of the same argument every week.
The phrase expresses annoyance with a repeated situation.
Further guidance
Construction
Use “sick of” when someone is annoyed or tired of a person, thing, or repeated situation.
Style Boundary
Cambridge directly documents the fed-up construction “sick of” / “sick and tired of”; this page does not treat physical illness uses of “sick” as the same construction.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- SICK AND TIRED OF | English meaning — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct Cambridge dictionary evidence for sick of / sick and tired of in the fed-up sense.