ailing
Americanadjective
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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 sobering and painful work because people have died or are ailing.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
But it wasn’t until Lyon was ailing and his wife, Val, was incapacitated that a family member looking to confirm a beneficiary designation found no record of any updates to his plans.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
The announcement is also the latest tie-up between Germany's ailing auto industry and the defence sector, which is booming as countries build up their militaries to face an increasingly dangerous world.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Elsewhere, "Posh finally makes some dosh" features next to a photo of Victoria Beckham, reporting on the improved fortunes of her previously ailing eponymous fashion label.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
“His wife, poor ailing soul, done passed on, and he thinking about coming North.”
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
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.
