heartbroken
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heartbroken
Explanation
To be heartbroken is to be so sad that it feels like your heart has cracked inside your chest. You’d be heartbroken after a death, but you can also be heartbroken when you get dumped by your girlfriend or boyfriend. Waaaaaa. When someone is heartbroken, they are deeply sorrowful or distressed. Feeling heartbroken about a tragic accident or disaster is an understandable response, and being heartbroken after a romantic breakup is basically inevitable. The word heartbroken has been used since the late 1500s, and it comes from heartbreak, which is rooted in the Old English heorte, "heart" and also "spirit" or "soul."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I go to the market only to look around because I cannot afford to buy anything. Whenever I ask about prices, I return heartbroken," Nadia Abu Shamala, a Palestinian resident of Gaza, told AFP.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
Water safety campaigner Rebecca Ramsay, whose son Dylan drowned at Hill Top Quarry in Chorley, Lancashire, in 2011, said she was "heartbroken for all the families" who were now "enduring my nightmare".
From BBC • May 27, 2026
"To say I'm heartbroken is a severe understatement. Words just don't capture what grief is. The comforts of shock have worn off. The reality is settling in... and I miss him."
From BBC • May 13, 2026
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke,” the Grizzlies said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Zhenya Rudneva was utterly heartbroken by the death of the brave, eloquent, determined Galya Dokutovich, who’d suffered so much already and hadn’t let it stop her from flying.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
