aching
Americanadjective
-
causing physical pain or distress.
treatment for an aching back.
-
full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of aching
Middle English word dating back to 1200–1250; see origin at ache, -ing 2
Explanation
Anything that's aching is sore and painful. After a hike up the side of a steep mountain or a long day walking around a city, you'll want to rest your aching feet. To ache is to feel a dull, constant pain, and aching things ache. Both words stem from the Old English acan, "suffer pain," from a Proto-Indo-European root that might be imitative of a groaning sound, the kind of noise you may make when you have an aching head or an aching tooth. Things are sometimes described as aching in a figurative way, too, when they're full of sorrow, like an aching heart or an aching loneliness.
Vocabulary lists containing aching
"Brothers in Hope"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Gordon Lightfoot (1938–2023) Tribute List
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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.
My knee was aching, likely a callback to surgery at 16 to repair torn ligaments.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
From that point in the novel to its wrenching end, June searches for her baby with the passionate abandon of a first-time mother and the aching hunger of every mother separated from her child.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
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
It was everywhere, flooding radio, weddings and reality shows, the slowbuild, aching notes articulating romantic devotion that felt cinematic yet intensely personal.
From BBC • Jan. 28, 2026
My head is aching, and my cheeks feel hot.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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.
