as in ailments
an abnormal state that disrupts a plant's or animal's normal bodily functioning
half of the staff is out sick with the usual wintertime ails
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in bothers
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
parents who were at a loss to explain what was ailing their normally vivacious daughter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of ails
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
1 Sep. 2025
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
12 June 2026
Because the World Cup should be a temporary antidote to all that ails us.
—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
Look into it—there's probably something that aims to ease whatever ails you.
—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
Often, knowing what ails a patient is necessary but not sufficient for determining how to care for them.
—
Andrew Parsons,
The Conversation,
1 June 2026
Smith is hyper-focused on attacking these practices, and not trying to fix everything that ails the Jets all at once.
—
Zack Rosenblatt,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Perhaps Team Lee is right that AI is the miracle cure for all that ails his economy.
—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
What ails Los Angeles County Foot traffic took a hit last summer.
—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
Vladar can get a few extra days off to rest whatever ails him if the Flyers build off their 5-2 win in Game 3 and complete the sweep Saturday in Philadelphia.
—
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
City may well have believed that a summer break would cure their ails and time would simply consign last season’s mid-season collapse to room 101, but the rest of the league does not forget.
—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
Is gerontocracy the right diagnosis for what ails us?
—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
12 June 2026
Because the World Cup should be a temporary antidote to all that ails us.
—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
Look into it—there's probably something that aims to ease whatever ails you.
—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
Often, knowing what ails a patient is necessary but not sufficient for determining how to care for them.
—
Andrew Parsons,
The Conversation,
1 June 2026
Smith is hyper-focused on attacking these practices, and not trying to fix everything that ails the Jets all at once.
—
Zack Rosenblatt,
New York Times,
29 May 2026
Perhaps Team Lee is right that AI is the miracle cure for all that ails his economy.
—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
What ails Los Angeles County Foot traffic took a hit last summer.
—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
17 May 2026
Vladar can get a few extra days off to rest whatever ails him if the Flyers build off their 5-2 win in Game 3 and complete the sweep Saturday in Philadelphia.
—
CBS News,
23 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ails
Noun
-
Scientists are particularly concerned about microplastics, bits no larger than a grain of rice that could trigger heart and brain diseases and other ailments, either by their mere presence in people or from toxic chemicals leaching out of the particles.
-
Interest in kratom surged in the last couple of years as users have reported consuming the compound in the form of a pill, powder or tea to treat various ailments.
Verb
-
Oh, and more often than not, nobody bothers to check whether the change intervention actually worked, or whether leaders improve their performance after all!
-
The government no longer even bothers to disguise itself as a democracy.
Noun
-
The active season for tick diseases is also expanding.
-
An investigation revealed that the horse was suffering from multiple diseases and was a decade older than his driver had initially reported, according to the organization.
Verb
-
Eftekhari worries that the mood at Iran’s first match, where fans and protesters clashed, affected the players.
-
Iran’s president worries about street protests Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed concern that some Iranians could openly protest again.
Noun
-
In the winter of 1920, the United States entered Prohibition in the United States after years of campaigning by temperance groups who believed alcohol sat at the root of many social ills.
-
On this near-ideal night, all the ills of the past few years faded away, and an era — or at least a month — of real ambition began.
Verb
-
The pact also fails to address Iran’s missile program and its network of proxy militant groups – concerns many Gulf states consider more immediate than Tehran’s nuclear activities.
-
However, the most noteworthy information in the report concerns the Florida spaceport, where demand from SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch vehicles is expected to stress NASA.
Noun
-
As of June 18, one death was linked to the cheese products, in addition to eight hospitalizations and nine illnesses, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recall report.
-
But these few species are devastating, causing some 700 million illnesses and 1 million deaths globally each year due to infections like malaria, dengue fever, Zika and West Nile virus.
Verb
-
Tilling or plowing in the summer disturbs the soil's delicate ecosystem and exposes moist soil to rapid water loss.
-
The pier in Michigan City’s Washington Park disturbs the natural flow of sand along the lakeshore, creating new land east of the pier but starving beaches to the west, an erosion problem repeated by other manmade structures that jut out into Lake Michigan.
Cite this Entry
“Ails.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ails. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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