- 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.
It’s common for people to move closer to ailing relatives.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente said it will give ailing Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital a $25-million grant to help expand its overcrowded emergency department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
An ailing fund managed by KKR lost 6.55% over the past 12 months through June, a slight improvement from its 9.17% loss in the prior period.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
When their flight was rerouted to Santo Domingo, one of the members visited his ailing father, who died a day later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
She has walked away from Byron, five, and Melissa, ten, as well as her ten-year-old sister and eleven-year-old brother, whom she had been raising for her ailing mother.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
