heartsick

1 of 2

adjective

heart·sick ˈhärt-ˌsik

Synonyms of heartsick

: very despondent : depressed

heartsick over the bad news

heartsickness noun

heartsickness

2 of 2

noun

: the quality or state of being heartsick

died of … heartsickness after moving here and waiting for years for the man who never came—National Geographic

the wild heartsickness of the desert—Lawrence Durrell

Examples of heartsick in a Sentence

Adjective They were absolutely heartsick over the loss of their home. I was heartsick to learn of their divorce.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Adjective

The word that comes to mind when watching a de Araújo feature is heartsick. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 23 Jan. 2026 Imagine talking to your most heartsick friend, the one who simply cannot get over her ex. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 9 June 2026 As the titular Buffy, Gellar ably led her gang of monster-slayers (and heartsick teenagers) through seven seasons. — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 10 Mar. 2025 Brolin plays a particularly heartsick parent coming for Garner and demanding answers about his missing daughter. — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 2 Apr. 2025 But viewers, particularly younger female ones, relished their bond — and were heartsick when the stars ended their real-life romance in 2007 after two years. — Ryan Gajewski, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024 Perhaps too good for his own good, Lucas moves among jangling psychedelia, heartsick pastorals, and radio-ready rock, as if forever searching for a way out of his attic studio or his parents’ spare bedroom. — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 23 May 2026 Harris has taken the religious patina of Alice Walker’s tale—most chiefly the Christian God, to whom Celie writes her heartsick journal entries after she is separated from her beloved sister, Nettie, by the monstrous Pa and the vindictive Mister—and dirties it, wisely. — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 1 June 2026 Culture Our Adored Cadavers Elizabeth Harper From the heartsick graverobbers of early Romantic literature to the latest gritty cable crime drama, the dead woman is never simply mourned and forgotten, but fully objectified and consumed. — hazlitt.net, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1529, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1556, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of heartsick was circa 1529

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Heartsick.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heartsick. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Kids Definition

heartsick

adjective

heart·sick -ˌsik

: very sad and discouraged : depressed

heartsickness noun

heartsick

adjective

noun

Synonyms of heartsick

Examples of heartsick in a Sentence

Word History

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Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

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