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causing physical pain or distress:
treatment for an aching back.
full of or precipitating nostalgia, grief, loneliness, etc.
contemporary examples

it has lost some of its ungainly enthusiasm, its sloppy joy, its achingly self-conscious hipster att-tude.
the look that defined fashion week robin givhan september 15, 2011

the worth of death of a king lies in its story, succinctly and achingly told.
tavis smiley humanely chronicles mlk’s sad last year scott porch october 15, 2014

though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
best of the memorial service the daily beast july 6, 2009

in contrast, gråbøl makes lund achingly believable, with all the complexities and frailties of real life.
sofie gråbøl, star of ‘forbrydelsen,’ on sarah lund, ‘the killing,’ and season 3 jace lacob november 15, 2012

the dissolution of their relationship plays out in the achingly poignant duet “do you want to build a snowman?”
‘frozen’ is the best disney film since ‘the lion king’ kevin fallon november 24, 2013

historical examples

in these days his religious faith was not slumbering; it was awake and achingly conscious of having fallen in a struggle.
felix holt, the radical george eliot

of the hushed rise of the dawn, the first flush of the sun that was so achingly lovely on the desert.
astounding stories, april, 1931 various

then they rested for a few moments and drank some of the achingly cold water from the tank and got up and went to the viewport.
the graveyard of sp-ce milton lesser

the dew soaked evelyn’s thin dress, and she felt hungry and achingly tired.
the coast of adventure harold bindloss

pixie was alone, more helplessly, achingly alone than she had been in her life.
the love affairs of pixie mrs george de horne vaizey