heartache

H4E1A1R1T1A1C3H4E1
UK/ˈhɑːteɪk/

noun

Emotional distress or pain, often caused by a loved one or their absence.

Similar
griefheartbreakbrokenheartedness
OriginMiddle English heorteece ← Old English heorteċe →
Less commonScrabble 17
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Meanings

nounheartache (countable and uncountable, plural heartaches)

plural heartaches · alternative obsolete heart-ach · alternative archaic heart-ache

  1. countableuncountableEmotional distress or pain, often caused by a loved one or their absence.

    […]: to dye, to ſleepe, / No more; and by a ſleepe, to ſay we end / The Heart-ake, and the thouſand Naturall ſhockes / That Fleſh is heyre too?

    c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 265
    4 more examples

    “Well done, sister! I honour your esprit du corps. When I am a wife, I mean to be just as staunch myself; and I wish my friends in general would be so too. It would save me many a heart ache.”

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter V, in Mansfield Park: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 94

    She was carrying an armful of Bibles for her class, and such was her view of life that events which produced heartache in others wrought beatific smiles upon her—an enviable result, although, in the opinion of Angel, it was obtained by a curiously unnatural sacrifice of humanity to mysticism.

    1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XL, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC

    Heaven knows what pains the author has been at, what bitter experiences he has endured and what heartache suffered, to give some chance reader a few hours' relaxation or to while away the tedium of a journey.

    1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter II, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC

    While this town is busy sleeping / All the noise has died away / I walk the streets to stop my weeping / 'Cause she'll never change her ways / But don't fool yourself / She was heartache from the moment that you met her / Ah, my heart feels so still as I try to find the will to forget her, somehow / Oh, I think I've forgotten her now / Her love is a rose, pale and dying / Dropping her petals in land unknown / All full of wine, the world before her / Was sober with no place to go / Mm, don't fool yourself / She was heartache from the moment that you met her / My heart is frozen still as I try to find the will to forget her somehow / She's somewhere out there now

    1993, “Forget Her”, performed by Jeff Buckley

Synonyms & antonyms

nounintense sorrow caused by loss of a loved one (especially by death)

Similar
griefheartbreakbrokenheartedness
Broader
sorrow
Also see
brokenheartednessgriefheartbreak

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishheorteċe
  2. Middle Englishheorteece
  3. Englishheartache

From Middle English heorteece, heorte-ece, from Old English heorteċe, equivalent to heart + ache. Blends both literal and figurative aspects, as emotional distress sometimes includes a physical element of chest discomfort. Compare heartbreak § Etymology, where the literal aspect is lesser, though it still can be said to have a physiological basis.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian мъка, душевна болка
  • мъка (măka)emotional distress or pain
  • душевна болка (duševna bolka)emotional distress or pain
Chinese Mandarin 心痛
  • 心痛 (xīntòng)emotional distress or pain
Dutch hartzeer
  • hartzeeremotional distress or pain
Esperanto korpremo
  • korpremoemotional distress or pain
Finnish sydänsuru, murhe
  • sydänsuruemotional distress or pain
  • murheemotional distress or pain
  • sydänhaavaemotional distress or pain
French chagrin d'amour, peine de cœur
  • chagrin d'amouremotional distress or pain
  • peine de cœuremotional distress or pain
German Herzschmerz, Herzeleid
  • Herzschmerzemotional distress or pain
  • Herzeleidemotional distress or pain
  • Herzwehemotional distress or pain
  • Herzenskummeremotional distress or pain
Indonesian pedih hati
  • pedih hatiemotional distress or pain
Irish croíbhriseadh, crá croí
  • croíbhriseadhemotional distress or pain
  • crá croíemotional distress or pain
Japanese 心痛
  • 心痛 (shintsū)emotional distress or pain
Latin cordolium
  • cordoliumemotional distress or pain
Malay pedih hati
  • pedih hatiemotional distress or pain
Māori tūmatatenga, ahotea
  • tūmatatengaemotional distress or pain
  • ahoteaemotional distress or pain
  • auhiemotional distress or pain
  • huamoemotional distress or pain
  • pākikiniemotional distress or pain
  • mate kaneheemotional distress or pain
Russian душе́вная боль, страда́ние
  • душе́вная боль (dušévnaja bolʹ)emotional distress or pain
  • страда́ние (stradánije)emotional distress or pain
  • рана (rana)emotional distress or pain
Spanish angustia, pena
  • angustiaemotional distress or pain
  • penaemotional distress or pain
Swedish hjärtesorg
  • hjärtesorgemotional distress or pain
Thai ไข้ใจ, โทมนัส
  • ไข้ใจ (kâi-jai)emotional distress or pain
  • โทมนัสemotional distress or pain
Turkish kâlp ağrısı, yürek ağrısı
  • kâlp ağrısıemotional distress or pain
  • yürek ağrısıemotional distress or pain
Cite this entry
APA

heartache. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heartache

MLA

“heartache.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heartache. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heartache,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heartache.

Source: heartache on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.