ailing
Americanadjective
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sickly; unwell.
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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.
Hoppock said Estelle was detained on a layover, as she traveled home from visiting her ailing father in France.
From Salon • May 14, 2026
The ailing budget airline had been hoping to finalize a $500 million lifeline from the government before running out of cash.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
Suu Kyi remains massively popular inside Myanmar, but has been held almost completely incommunicado as her family warned of her ailing health.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
In 2009, after petitioning the court to have her ailing father placed under a conservatorship, Catherine was permitted to visit Peter Falk, who was suffering from dementia.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
I visiting Slant at the noon hour with Pro Bono, we came upon Miss Nsia, who was carrying water to the ailing.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
