1
: a bodily disorder or chronic disease
a stomach ailment
2
: unrest, uneasiness
an emotional ailment
Synonyms
Examples of ailment in a Sentence
She suffered from a chronic back ailment.
The doctor treated him for a variety of ailments.
Recent Examples on the Web
Modern scientific discoveries have made it so that many ailments that dogs (and other animals) have can be addressed in order to prolong their lives.
—
Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
The merchants’ ailments show the importance of a shopping center’s anchor, observers said.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
For most of history, humans didn’t live long enough to confront the ailments of old age.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Then, in January, the mysterious ailment began afflicting smalltooth sawfish, a type of large, prehistoric-looking ray named for the look of its snout-like rostrum lined with sharp teeth.
—Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Douglas tries to infuse humor in the role, highlighting Franklin’s various ailments – including his bouts of gout, along with his terrible grasp of the French language.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
An elderly woman, in an attempt to avoid the ailments that took her mother, grows fragile instead.
—Audrey Richardson and Aurora Sousanis, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
Part of that growth is due to a $600 million critical care building that opened in 2021 for patients with cancer, heart ailments and other complex conditions.
—Sharon Coolidge, The Enquirer, 2 Apr. 2024
The place is believed to have a healing effect on physical and spiritual ailments, according to the study, and is considered a sacred place to make sacrifices to this day.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2024
Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 16 Apr. 2024
The merchants’ ailments show the importance of a shopping center’s anchor, observers said.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2024
For most of history, humans didn’t live long enough to confront the ailments of old age.
—Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
Then, in January, the mysterious ailment began afflicting smalltooth sawfish, a type of large, prehistoric-looking ray named for the look of its snout-like rostrum lined with sharp teeth.
—Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2024
Douglas tries to infuse humor in the role, highlighting Franklin’s various ailments – including his bouts of gout, along with his terrible grasp of the French language.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
An elderly woman, in an attempt to avoid the ailments that took her mother, grows fragile instead.
—Audrey Richardson and Aurora Sousanis, USA TODAY, 6 Apr. 2024
Part of that growth is due to a $600 million critical care building that opened in 2021 for patients with cancer, heart ailments and other complex conditions.
—Sharon Coolidge, The Enquirer, 2 Apr. 2024
The place is believed to have a healing effect on physical and spiritual ailments, according to the study, and is considered a sacred place to make sacrifices to this day.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ailment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ailment
Cite this Entry
“Ailment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ailment. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
ailment
noun
ail·ment
ˈā(ə)l-mənt 
: a bodily disorder or chronic disease
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