aching
Needing a massage
Aching describes a dull, persistent pain—the kind that lingers rather than stabs: My aching feet need rest.
The word extends to emotional longing or yearning: an aching heart, aching for home.
Something achingly beautiful is so moving it almost hurts to witness.
Injured beneath skin
- swollenAbnormally enlarged
- inflamedProvoked or medically irritated
- sprainLigament stretch injury
- strainExcessive stretching force
hurt · wounded · tender · raw · smarting · injured · aggravated · sore
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- piningAching with prolonged desire
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
homesickness · melancholy · grief · sorrow · desire · craving · languishing · bittersweet
Rhythmic painful pulsing
- sorenessTender, painful sensation
- tendernessGentle, caring quality
- stiffnessResistance to deformation
- painBodily or emotional distress
twinge · cramp · spasm · discomfort · nagging · gnawing · pulsating · dull
Causing extreme suffering
- unbearableImpossible to endure
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
- severeExtremely harsh or strict
- acuteIntensely severe or perceptive
sharp · piercing · relentless · constant · unrelenting · deep · profound · overwhelming
bruised
Injured beneath skin
strain · hurt · wounded · tender · raw · smarting · injured · aggravated · sore · pulled
longing
Intense, persistent desire
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- piningAching with prolonged desire
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
nostalgia · homesickness · melancholy · grief · sorrow · desire · craving · languishing · bittersweet · emptiness
throbbing
Rhythmic painful pulsing
- sorenessTender, painful sensation
- tendernessGentle, caring quality
- stiffnessResistance to deformation
pain · twinge · cramp · spasm · discomfort · nagging · gnawing · pulsating · dull · persistent
excruciating
Causing extreme suffering
- unbearableImpossible to endure
- agonizingIntensely painful or distressing
- severeExtremely harsh or strict
acute · sharp · piercing · relentless · constant · unrelenting · deep · profound · overwhelming · intense
- body discomfortsitching, burning, stinging, throbbing, cramping
- body part traitsbent, bony, bruised, calloused, crooked
- tooth conditionscavity, chipped, cracked, loose, missing
- body sensestouch, pain, proprioception, kinesthesia, tactile sensation
- inflammationacute inflammation, chronic inflammation, pain, heat, swelling
- painpain, agony, hurt, hurting, suffering
achingpainless
Causing no discomfort
comfortable · pain-free · soothed · relieved · healed
- aching heartEmotional pain from love
- aching joints
- aching forIntensely desiring something