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.
In a tribute last week, Michael McKean, Curry's co-star in the 1985 comedy whodunit Clue, said that the ailing actor had been in a "grim physical state".
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
But it’s not just his knee that’s ailing him, Roberts said after talking to the Dodgers training staff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
It’s common for people to move closer to ailing relatives.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Iryna Terekh, the young owner of a small furniture company, sped out of the town of Bucha with her ailing mother in the passenger seat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
“Dr. Woodhull being sick, ailing and incapable of self-support, I felt it my duty to myself and to human nature that he should be cared for,” she said.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
