ailing
/ˈeɪ.lɪŋ/noun, adjective, verb
ailing is spelled A-I-L-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ailing means “An ailment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ailing is ailings.
How many letters and syllables are in ailing?
| Letters | 6: A-I-L-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,092nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ailing?
Ailing appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ailing?
- /ˈeɪ.lɪŋ/
Ailing has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ailing.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ailing?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as ailing.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nilgai.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ailing
- ailings plural
- more ailing comparative
- most ailing superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ailing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An ailment.
adjective
- 1
Sickly; sick; ill; unwell.
She cared for her ailing brother day in, day out.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of ail
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ailing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sick:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | malade, malsain |
| German | krank, kränklich, kränkelnd, marode, dahinsiechend, leidend |
| Portuguese | doente, enfermo |
| Spanish | enfermo, achacoso, enfermito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.