aching
Americanadjective
-
causing physical pain or distress.
treatment for an aching back.
-
full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.
Other Word Forms
- achingly adverb
- unaching adjective
- unachingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of aching
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.
But Pasbar has followed events in Iran closely, his heart aching as he watched the recent crackdown on protests until he couldn't bear it any longer.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
This doesn’t mean they’re secretly aching to become “tradwives.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026
As parts of the city smoldered, many turned to Didion’s aching, poetic rendering of a paradise lost.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025
Most of us are aching not for perfection but for presence.
From Salon • Dec. 2, 2025
Late that afternoon, in uniforms so sweat soaked they looked black, with shoulders aching under the weight of their packs, the men jumped into helicopters and flew back to camp.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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.
