Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A physical or mental disorder, especially a mild illness.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Disease; indisposition; morbid affection of the body: not ordinarily applied to acute diseases. Synonyms Sickness, etc. (see
illness ), indisposition, disorder, complaint.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Indisposition; morbid affection of the body; -- not applied ordinarily to acute diseases.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an often persistent bodily disorder or disease; a cause for complaining
Etymologies
- From ail + -ment (Wiktionary)
Examples
“When someone seems so dissatisfied with life and just perpetually grumpy, this type of physical ailment is no surprise.”
“Indeed, the failure to screen for this pervasive ailment is at best negligent and at worst tinged with the broad brush of racism.”
The Huffington Post: Randall Amster: The Most Common Disease You've Never Heard Of
“First, a few basics: the ailment is known as G6PD deficiency (for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) and, according to a 2008 article in The Lancet, it "is the most common human enzyme defect, being present in more than 400 million people worldwide.”
The Huffington Post: Randall Amster: The Most Common Disease You've Never Heard Of
“The ailment is physical, but the reason for the ailment is legal.”
“The ailment is not only a personal and family tragedy; it is an enormous national expense -- $170 billion and rising fast.”
“(Pena, out since early July with a quadriceps ailment, is not expected to play again this season, General Manager Dave Kasper said.)”
The Washington Post: D.C. United news & notes: player shortage, trialist
“In the real world, the decision to do throw the kitchen sink at every ailment is either funded by the government, or by private insurance.”
“Julian Sanchez: In the real world, the decision to do throw the kitchen sink at every ailment is either funded by the government, or by private insurance.”
“Whether your ailment is physical or psychological, there will be a memoir to suit.”
“And when mixed doubles partner Leander Paes of India fell ill with a potentially life-threatening brain ailment before the U.S.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ailment’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
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-ments aplenty
The stranger, the better.
battlement, devilment, ailment, dismemberment, embezzlement, blandishment, entanglement, engorgement, embankment, elopement, disgruntlement, hutment and 77 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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5000 FREE SAT Words
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 229 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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Misc. Words.
Words I like to use, words I like but may forget.
corrosion, astonish, solace, ferment, continuum, kinesthetic, permeate, repose, caprice, cardinal, discourse, surrender and 610 more...
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NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
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GRE
acrimony, verisimilitude, tenebrious, tenebrous, dishabille, unfettered, deplorable, woebegone, credulity, naïveté, mitigate, meliorate and 475 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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1906 Railway Cipher Code
Terms from the Standard Cipher Code of the American Railway Association, 1906. The terms were shorthand for common phrases used in telegraphic communications between station agents and Railway Asso...
abdominal, abetting, abiology, ablative, abnormal, abominate, aboveboard, abrasive, absinth, abstinent, accursed, acetate and 212 more...
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wordsmithing part deux
because wordsmith is not a verb.
enmity, incarnate, chignon, nape, solitude, nocturne, decorum, warren, svelte, interstice, serene, charlotte and 488 more...
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GRE 2011
Lists 300 top words appearing in revised GRE
meticulous, Prosaic, Disseminate, Censure, Prodigal, Maintain, Deride, Pragmatic, Deferential, Contrite, Panache, Fey and 89 more...
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useful vocab
pysmatic, relentless, storge, preamble, oscillate, itinerary, frolic, frolicsome, abdicate, frolicking, divergent, abnegate and 312 more...
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Morbidity
sickness (preferably of the brain)
morbidity, disease, malady, ailment, oneirophrenia, hysteria, dissociation, depersonalization, schizoaffective, neuropsychiatry, chronic, obsessive and 86 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for ailment.

hernesheir Railroad telegraphers' shorthand for "May we appoint agent for you?. --US Railway Assn. Standard Cipher Code, 1906. Jan 19, 2013