What it means
Means you look a bit ill or wiped out, pale, clammy, not your usual self right now. It’s the soft British way of saying you look rough without making a scene. Said when someone’s running on no sleep, fighting off a bug, or recovering from a dodgy takeaway. Often followed by someone forcing a cuppa and a sit-down on you for your own good.
Usage examples
"You’re looking peaky, mate, proper ghosty. Grab a brew and some toast, yeah? No heroics, just park it on the sofa."
"My nan rang me on Sunday morning to say I sounded peaky on the phone the night before, told me to take Monday off the office in Sheffield, and posted a tin of homemade ginger biscuits second class so they would arrive in time for the afternoon tea on Tuesday."
"The teacher in the staff room in Birmingham was looking proper peaky by Friday morning, had been running on three hours of sleep all week since the term started, and the head sent her home at lunchtime with strict orders not to check email until the Monday meeting was over."
"You look a bit peaky today, love. Was it that dodgy chicken last night or have you just been living on three hours kip and bad decisions?"
"He came into the pub looking peaky as anything, all pale round the chops, so we binned the big night out and got him chips and a taxi home instead."
Where it comes from
It comes from older English peak and peaked, both used for someone looking pale, thin, or worn down by illness or stress. That sense has been knocking about for centuries, and peaky stayed alive in British English as the gentle, everyday version for saying someone looks a bit unwell without making a big song and dance of it.
Other ways to say it
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