ailment
Americannoun
-
ailments
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ailment
Explanation
If you've got a rash or a persistent cough, you can call that an ailment. Some other common ailments are allergies or chronic headaches. They can be a real pain. Literally. The word ailment comes from the Old English eglan meaning "to trouble, plague, afflict," and the suffix -ment from the Latin mentum, which when added to the end of word describing an action turns that word into the result of that action. So the result of something that troubles, plagues or afflicts you is an ailment — a pain or discomfort that just doesn't seem to go away.
Vocabulary lists containing ailment
Chains
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The Last Last-Day-of-Summer
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The Fault in Our Stars
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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.
See Examples For:
"It's really amazing to see that something that's supposed to prevent a physical ailment can also help keep our brain healthy, too."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Distressed vets administered a glucose injection -- the only option, given that the cause of the ailment remains unknown -- to the 11-year-old male, known as Genghis Khan, who was struggling to breathe.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
There are few fortunes that can outlast a dementia illness or other ailment that requires full-time care for 20-plus years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Cooking for hours before a burning gas stove on extremely hot days has worsened an existing heart ailment, Agarwal says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Whatever the exact cause, Galileo suffered from repeated bouts of an arthritic ailment for the rest of his life, which sometimes confined him to bed for several weeks at a time.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Parton had canceled a planned Las Vegas engagement in May 2026, revealing that she was being treated for kidney stones as well as other undisclosed digestive and immune ailments.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Pediatricians in Utah have been on the front lines as measles and other vaccine-preventable ailments have returned to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
For one thing, the Sixers have spent seasons rocked by injuries, with Embiid in particular missing substantial time with leg ailments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
The room is full of bright colours and smiling faces, with ailments temporarily banished.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Over the life of the fair the hospital treated 11,602 patients, sixty-four a day, for injuries and ailments that suggest that the mundane sufferings of people have not changed very much over the ages.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
