Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ailing

/ˈeɪ.lɪŋ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.08 in modern English

Syllables: ail-ing
IPA: /ˈeɪ.lɪŋ/

7

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

verb

present participle and gerund of ail

adj

Sickly; sick; ill; unwell.

Example Sentences

"When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies."
"She cared for her ailing brother day in, day out."
"Based on the successful Class 59 but with a much more modern engine, what was to become the Class 66 was designed to replace much of the company's elderly and ailing locomotive fleet."

Inflected Forms

ailings (plural) more ailing (comparative) most ailing (superlative)

Derived Forms

nonailing unailing

Synonyms

indisposed peaked poorly sickly unwell under the weather seedy

Homonyms

ayling

Rhymes With

failing sailing scaling detailing mailing prevailing trailing railing whaling unveiling hailing wailing

Questions

How do you pronounce ailing?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈeɪ.lɪŋ/.
What does ailing mean?: An ailment.

How to pronounce ailing

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ailing”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈeɪ.lɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ailing”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ailing” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.