- present participle of ail.
ailing
Americanadjective
-
sickly; unwell.
-
unsound or troubled.
a financially ailing corporation.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of ailing
Explanation
Someone who's ailing is sick. You might visit your ailing grandmother in the hospital. You can use the adjective ailing to describe someone who's very ill, or use it figuratively, to talk about "our ailing economy," or "the ailing school system." The next time you call in sick to work, you might say, "I can't come in today — I'm afraid I'm ailing." Ailing comes from the verb ail, "trouble or afflict," from the Old English eglan, "to trouble, plague, or pain."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ailing Japanese who could not find relief from Japanese doctors visited physicians on Dejima.
From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022
Ailing celebrities often disappear from public life; only after they die do we learn about their health challenges.
From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2022
Known to her Chinese fans as Gu Ailing, she’s endeared herself through her embrace of local culture, effortlessly dropping references to her fondness for dumplings, red-braised pork, meat buns and Peking duck.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2022
"Gu Ailing is a genius young woman right?" was one trending topic, referencing her Chinese name.
From Fox News • Feb. 8, 2022
What did you and Hassan call it, “the Wall of Ailing Corn”? A rocket destroyed a whole section of that wall in the middle of the night early that fall.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
