aching

American  

[ey-king] / ˈeɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

1. causing physical pain or distress.

   treatment for an aching back.

2. full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.

---

Other Word Forms

• achingly adverb
• unaching adjective
• unachingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of aching

Middle English word dating back to 1200–1250; ache, -ing ²

Example Sentences

“What had been incredibly futuristic and achingly modern just moments ago,” he writes, “had transitioned to something almost banal within the space of a single ride.”

From The Wall Street Journal

This isn’t bro country; it’s songs for aching hearts, for dreamers, for the lovelorn, steeped in pop, rock, Tejano and Mariachi.

From Salon

I kept thinking about the quiet, aching gap between who she might have been raised to be and what her life became.

From The Wall Street Journal

As parts of the city smoldered, many turned to Didion’s aching, poetic rendering of a paradise lost.

From Los Angeles Times

Fever, aching limbs and a runny nose -- as winter returns, so too does the flu.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• hurting
• nagging
• sore
• throbbing