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Glite Dictionary
ailing

ailing

3 5.6
Having poor health and often getting sick
  • adjective
  • /ˈeɪlɪŋ/
translation icon : enfermo
  • Rafeq Shehadeh, the new mayor, was an old and ailing man.
  • ailing mother
  • ailing economy
  • ailing body

And it's, you know, the ailing cannons of the world are out there.

Examples

  • In the ailing community, many residents sought help to improve their health.

  • That's just about the time when the ailing congressman returned home from the Mayo Clinic to continue recovering from bipolar disorder.

    Blog text (29)

  • Nurse your dear baby, care for your ailing child's special needs, and trust the season to run its course.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Maybe it's your job, maybe it's your ailing mother who lives in your spare bedroom, maybe your medication isn't working.

    Blog text (16)

  • By the late 1980s, Bulgaria's air, water, and land were noticeably ailing.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Nevertheless we're still a fallible, vulnerable, ailing, aging, mortal, suffering human being.

  • Ailing former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak awaits sentencing, June 2, 2012.

    Academic text (2013)

  • But if Josiah's wife Lizzie had ever had an opinion, it went unrecorded; when she was mentioned at all, it was to say how dear, sweet, good, and ailing poor Lizzie was.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • After her surgery, she felt a little ailing and needed to rest more than usual.

  • The ailing horse required extra care and attention from the veterinarian.

Synonyms

sick
vsailing
∞ 1.0

Not well because of illness

is milder and means slight poor health or chronic susceptibility
ill
vsailing
632 1.0

Not feeling well because of sickness

is milder and means slight poor health and susceptibility
sickly
vsailing
30 2.6

Often ill and looking weak or pale

is milder, indicating only occasional poor health or temporary weakness
under the weather
vsailing
  • Informal
21 5.3

Feeling slightly ill and not your usual self

is about persistent poor health and recurring health problems
unwell
vsailing
18 1.0

Feeling slightly sick or uncomfortable

is about longer term poor health and repeated health problems
poorly
vsailing
2.8

Feeling ill or not well

describes ongoing poor health and tendency to have recurring problems
indisposed
vsailing
6.9

Feeling slightly ill or unwell

is about more lasting poor health and repeated susceptibility

Antonyms

healthy
695 1.0

In good body and mind condition without sickness or injury

well
142 1.0

In good health after being ill or hurt

How Sick

critical
917 4.0
ill
632 1.0
ailing
3 5.6
healthy
695 1.0

Surface Forms

ailing positive

Morphology

ailing = ail (transparent) = ail + ing

Formed by adding the productive adjective/participle suffix '-ing' to the verb 'ail'; meaning 'suffering from ill health' is directly derived.

Etymology

The word ailing comes from the simple verb ail, which means 'to be sick', and the same root appears in ailment. So if someone is ailing, they are in poor health or slightly ill.