Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for aching. Search instead for anching.
Synonyms

aching

American  
[ey-king] / ˈeɪ kɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing physical pain or distress.

    treatment for an aching back.

  2. full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.

Other Word Forms

  • achingly adverb
  • unaching adjective
  • unachingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of aching

Middle English word dating back to 1200–1250; ache, -ing 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But Pasbar has followed events in Iran closely, his heart aching as he watched the recent crackdown on protests until he couldn't bear it any longer.

From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026

There is also a feeling Maguire is happy in his surroundings too - that he is settled with his family in the north-west and has no aching desire to start again somewhere else just yet.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026

This isn’t bro country; it’s songs for aching hearts, for dreamers, for the lovelorn, steeped in pop, rock, Tejano and Mariachi.

From Salon • Dec. 26, 2025

I kept thinking about the quiet, aching gap between who she might have been raised to be and what her life became.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

Hugging my aching belly, I bit my lip.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.