What does heartache mean?
Heartache is a noun for a feeling of profound emotional pain, usually brought on by love, separation, loss, or disappointment. It is often more literary and emotionally charged than words such as sadness or sorrow, suggesting a pain that is difficult to describe or relieve. In conversations and personal writing, heartache commonly describes the distress of saying goodbye, losing someone, or seeing a relationship end: for example, someone may speak of the heartache of a long separation. Although modern speakers almost always use the word metaphorically, heartache also has an older sense involving literal pain in the chest or heart. This dual meaning makes the word especially evocative, combining a physical sensation with the idea of emotional suffering. The word is generally treated as uncountable, although the plural heartaches is also established for distinct instances or periods of such pain.
nounHeartache is a feeling of deep emotional pain or sorrow, especially caused by loss, separation, or disappointment. In older and literary use, it can also refer to physical pain in the chest or heart.
- Deep emotional pain, sorrow, or anguish, especially caused by loss or disappointment.
- Physical pain in the chest or heart, now mainly literary or dated.
"She tried to hide the heartache of saying goodbye."
"The news of her departure left him with a heartache that words could not ease."
"The old poem speaks of a heartache deeper than any wound received on the battlefield."
The plural is established but less common than the singular or uncountable use.
"The novel traces the heartaches of a family divided by war."
Heartache captures two kinds of pain at once: the ache of a broken heart and the ache physically felt in the heart.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does heartache come from?
Heartache is a compound of heart and ache, both of which descend from Old English. The combination appeared in Middle English for pain in the heart and was later extended to describe emotional suffering. Its structure parallels other English compounds such as headache and toothache, which also combine an anatomical term with ache.
How heartache is actually used
The emotional sense dominates modern usage, especially in personal, romantic, and literary contexts. The literal medical sense is now literary or dated.
Easily confused with heartache
An ache is a physical pain, whereas heartache most commonly means emotional pain or sorrow and only occasionally retains its older literal sense of pain in the heart.
Heartbreak usually describes intense emotional distress caused by the end of a romantic relationship, while heartache is broader and can refer to any deep sorrow or painful loss.