aching
adjective
ach·ing ˈā-kiŋ 
1
: that aches
an aching back
2
: causing or reflecting distress, deep emotion, or longing
aching country ballads
Synonyms
- achy
- afflictive
- hurting
- nasty
- painful
- sore
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
another one of those aching country songs about a woman who done him wrong
Recent Examples on the Web Peck muses about the mythic West, lonely highways and, in his most aching songs, the men who've broken his heart (or vice versa). 
Scottie Andrew, CNN, 5 Mar. 2022 An aching, tender portrait of the heartbreak and growing pains of adolescence from a then-18-year-old wise beyond her years. Amel Mukhtar, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2022 Perhaps the most aching adaptation of Diana put to screen, Corrin's young Spencer was written as perhaps the most sympathetic figure in the series. Scottie Andrew, CNN, 4 Nov. 2021 Morales, feverish and aching, cooked meals, delivered medicine and did laundry. Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2021 Backed by a spare beat and atmospheric choir, the 23-year-old R&B star sings with a soulfully aching, yearning voice and adds potent spoken-word passages about generations of pain, fear and anxiety. Jon Bream Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 17 Dec. 2020 Hansen was back at work at GCI on Friday with some aching muscles and a new goal. Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, 3 May 2020 In the wistful second movement, Mr. Harrell balanced aching lyricism with clearheaded directness. BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2020 Hayward brings a wonderful, aching intensity to Iris, who visibly and authentically transforms upon this first attempt, by anybody, to understand her. Mary Sollosi, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2020 See More
Scottie Andrew, CNN, 5 Mar. 2022 An aching, tender portrait of the heartbreak and growing pains of adolescence from a then-18-year-old wise beyond her years. Amel Mukhtar, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2022 Perhaps the most aching adaptation of Diana put to screen, Corrin's young Spencer was written as perhaps the most sympathetic figure in the series. Scottie Andrew, CNN, 4 Nov. 2021 Morales, feverish and aching, cooked meals, delivered medicine and did laundry. Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2021 Backed by a spare beat and atmospheric choir, the 23-year-old R&B star sings with a soulfully aching, yearning voice and adds potent spoken-word passages about generations of pain, fear and anxiety. Jon Bream Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 17 Dec. 2020 Hansen was back at work at GCI on Friday with some aching muscles and a new goal. Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, 3 May 2020 In the wistful second movement, Mr. Harrell balanced aching lyricism with clearheaded directness. BostonGlobe.com, 2 May 2020 Hayward brings a wonderful, aching intensity to Iris, who visibly and authentically transforms upon this first attempt, by anybody, to understand her. Mary Sollosi, EW.com, 24 Apr. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English aking, from present participle of aken "to ache entry 1"
First Known Use
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
aching 1 of 2
adjective
1
as in sore
causing or feeling bodily pain my poor, aching back Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- sore
- painful
- hurting
- achy
- swollen
- pinching
- damaging
- afflictive
- bleeding
- nasty
- hurtful
- injurious
- agonizing
- burning
- cramping
- itching
- excruciating
- nagging
- smarting
- chafing
- stinging
- torturous
- prickling
- festering
- detrimental
- tender
- severe
- inflamed
- harmful
- pricking
- pernicious
- raw
- deleterious
- wounding
- noxious
- enflamed
- threatening
- grievous
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- healing
- helping
- indolent
- painless
- remedial
- curative
2
as in weeping
expressing or suggesting mourning another one of those aching country songs about a woman who done him wrong Synonyms & Similar Words
- weeping
- heartbroken
- mournful
- grieving
- wailing
- funeral
- bitter
- melancholy
- anguished
- crying
- agonized
- sorry
- sad
- sorrowful
- bemoaning
- bewailing
- unhappy
- tearful
- plaintive
- deploring
- depressed
- groaning
- dolorous
- regretful
- doleful
- woeful
- plangent
- moaning
- lamentable
- lugubrious
- rueful
- keening
- somber
- dark
- suffering
- bleak
- morbid
- bleeding
- dolesome
- darkening
- funereal
- disconsolate
- downcast
- heartsick
- pathetic
- miserable
- dispirited
- howling
- bawling
- elegiac
- inconsolable
- downcast
- dejected
- moody
- heartsore
- careworn
- woebegone
- forlorn
- brokenhearted
- crestfallen
- downhearted
- despondent
- desolate
- yammering
- downhearted
- miserable
- glum
- gloomy
- gray
- black
- dirgelike
- low
- cheerless
- morose
- elegiacal
- piteous
- wretched
- sullen
- joyless
- comfortless
- glum
- low-spirited
- triste
- dismal
- gloomy
- dreary
- saturnine
- pessimistic
- grey
- sombre
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- happy
- triumphant
- joyful
- smiling
- laughing
- rejoicing
- delighted
- exulting
- cheerful
- bright
- glorying
- cheery
- blissful
- joyous
- cheering
- blithe
- encouraging
- merry
- buoyant
- jolly
- hopeful
- mirthful
- rapturous
- optimistic
- giddy
- ecstatic
- lighthearted
- euphoric
- blithesome
- rhapsodic
- heady
- jocund
- elated
- exhilarated
- rhapsodical
aching
2 of 2verb
as in hurting
to feel or cause physical pain my feet ache from all that walking Synonyms & Similar Words
- hurting
- throbbing
- tingling
- swelling
- paining
- smarting
- stinging
- bleeding
- cramping
- itching
- nagging
- burning
- suffering
- biting
- twinging
- festering
- chafing
- agonizing
- pounding
- pinching
- racking
- anguishing
- tormenting
- afflicting
- torturing
- harrowing
- twingeing