English

Noun

sick man ‎(plural sick men)

1. (idiomatic, usually with of) A weak member of a peer group, especially the weakest.
   • 1854, H.B. Stowe, “America's Ambition and Europe's Dilemma”, in The Living Age, volume 42‎, page 245:

     The former openly likens Cuba to Turkey, saying that the island is the "sick man" of the West;

   • 1896, Jesse Macy, The English constitution: a commentary on its nature and growth‎, page 54:

     The House of Lords has now come to be pretty generally looked upon as the "Sick Man" of the English Constitution.

   • 1942 May 19, “The Home Front”, in Los Angeles Times:

     He told how in an economic sense we were one of the Sick Men of the World our industry dilapidated rundown and was not being renewed

   • 1970 January 19, “A Decade of Disappointment for Asia”, in New York Times:

     For Asia as a whole, that target was just about achieved, even when including India and Indonesia, often regarded as the "sick men" of the continent.

Synonyms

• (a weak member of a group): weak sister