heartache
/ˈhɑːteɪk/
heartache noun: emotional distress or pain, often caused by a loved one or their absence.
Noun
heartache (countable and uncountable, plural heartaches)
- Emotional 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...
- “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
heartache meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Malayalam
heartache in Hindi
- दिल का दर्द, दिल की पीड़ा
heartache in Marathi
- हृदयाची वेदना, हृदय दुखणे
heartache in Telugu
- హృదయ వేదన
heartache in Malayalam
- heartache, sadness, grief
- നോവ് nōvŭ
- heartache; sadness, grief
- നൊമ്പരം nomparaṁ
More languagesFewer languages
- heartache in Kannada
- ದುಃಖ, ಸಂಕಟ, ಯಾತನೆ, ಎದೆಗುದಿ
- heartache in Punjabi
- ਦਿਲ ਦਾ ਦਰਦ, ਦਿਲ ਦੀ ਪੀਡ਼
- heartache in Gujarati
- દિલનો દુખાવો, દિલનો દુઃખાવો
- heartache in Odia
- ହୃଦଯ଼ ଯନ୍ତ୍ରଣା
- heartache in Nepali
- हृदय दुख्ने
- heartache in Malay
- pedih hati
- heartache in Indonesian
- pedih hati
- heartache in Thai
- ไข้ใจ kâi-jai, โทมนัส
Examples of heartache in a sentence
- My girl TayTay has gotten me through a lot of heartache.
- Heartache schmartache, I don't want to gay-marry you, oh sizzling Sapphite.
- Consider the heartache that could be avoided by thinking twice about the potentially disastrous effects of cyberflirting.
Forms of heartache
| plural | heartaches |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | heart-ach |
| alternative form (archaic) | heart-ache |
Origin of heartache
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.
Words formed from heartache
Questions about heartache
- What does heartache mean?
- Heartache means emotional distress or pain, often caused by a loved one or their absence.
- What is heartache in Hindi?
- Heartache in Hindi is दिल का दर्द, दिल की पीड़ा. See Heartache meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is heartache?
- Heartache is a noun.
- How do you pronounce heartache?
- Heartache is pronounced /ˈhɑːteɪk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of heartache?
- The plural of heartache is heartaches.
Words near heartache in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: heartache (page history and authors); heartache (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); heartache (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); heartache (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); നൊമ്പരം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); heartache (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); heartache (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); heartache (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); heartache (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); heartache (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-heartache.wav.
Cite this entry: “heartache.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/heartache. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.