ailment

noun

ail·​ment ˈāl-mənt 

1

: a bodily disorder or chronic disease

a stomach ailment

2

: unrest, uneasiness

an emotional ailment

Synonyms

• affection
• ail
• bug
• complaint
• complication
• condition
• disease
• disorder
• distemper
• distemperature
• fever
• ill
• illness
• infirmity
• malady
• sickness
• trouble

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

Blink Twice nods at a tangle of different contemporary ailments: lifestyle fetishism, wellness hedonism, our obscene fealty to stolid tech bros and their untrammeled wealth. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024

She was hospitalized for various ailments in 2005 and has kept her life private since then. —Liza Esquibias, People.com, 5 Dec. 2024

Even the corneas of shark eyes have reportedly been used for human transplants in Yemen, and shark cartilage is marketed as a panacea for various ailments. —Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

The ailment — a strained teres major/lat muscle — is one that Rodriguez previously dealt with as a minor leaguer in 2022. —Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

ail entry 1 + -ment

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

ailment

noun

ail·​ment ˈāl-mənt 

: a bodily disorder : sickness

Medical Definition

ailment

noun

ail·​ment ˈā(ə)l-mənt 

: a bodily disorder or chronic disease