What does homesickness mean?
Homesickness is the sadness or unease that can arise when a person is separated from home, whether through travel, relocation, study, military service, or hospitalization. It often involves missing family, familiar surroundings, established routines, and a sense of belonging. The word is used for both an enduring condition and occasional episodes of distress, as in 'she suffered from homesickness' or 'a sudden fit of homesickness.' While it can overlap with loneliness and nostalgia, homesickness is more specific: it is tied to separation from home. Its familiar expression 'homesick' is used to describe the person experiencing this feeling, as in 'the homesick student called home.' The word is widely understood in British and American English and appears in everyday conversation as well as in literary, historical, and academic writing.
nounA feeling of sadness or distress caused by being separated from one's home or loved ones. It is especially associated with being away from home for an extended period.
- Sadness or distress experienced because one is away from one's home or family.
"After several months abroad, she was overwhelmed by homesickness."
"The new student battled homesickness during her first weeks on campus."
"The old song brought back a powerful sense of homesickness while he was traveling overseas."
Homesickness is the ache of discovering that home lives not only in a place, but in the people and routines that make it familiar.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of homesickness
Homesickness combines home with the suffix -sickness, meaning illness or a condition of distress. The compound reflects the idea of a condition caused by being away from one's home. The word is related to the older English noun hūm, meaning home, and to the modern adjective homesick, which developed in the same tradition of describing the distress of separation.
Related word forms
How homesickness is actually used
The word is used in both formal and informal contexts. It is commonly treated as an uncountable noun, especially when referring to the emotion in general, though it can also be used in singular constructions such as 'a bout of homesickness.'
Easily confused with homesickness
Homesickness is specifically sadness or distress arising from separation from home, whereas loneliness can result from any form of social isolation.
Homesickness concerns a present feeling of missing home, while nostalgia is a broader longing for past experiences, people, or places.