aching

American  

[ey-king] / ˈeɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

1. causing physical pain or distress.

   treatment for an aching back.

2. full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.

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Other Word Forms

• achingly
  adverb
• unaching
  adjective
• unachingly
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

In the morning—before my aching knee and bulging blisters relegated my saunter to a limp—a 32-mile walk around Manhattan sounded like a good way to spend the first Saturday in May.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 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

At 21, wanderlust — that aching desire to escape to somewhere else — took hold of Elizabeth Short.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

My stomach is aching in that crampy way that means I’m about to get my period, and my palms itch so bad, it’s like fire ants are biting me.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

Related Words

• hurting
• nagging
• sore
• throbbing