brokenhearted

American  

[broh-kuhn-hahr-tid] / ˈbroʊ kənˈhɑr tɪd /

adjective

1. burdened with great sorrow, grief, or disappointment.

   Synonyms:

   dejected, despondent, heartbroken, heartsick

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brokenhearted British  

/ ˌbrəʊkənˈhɑːtɪd /

adjective

1. overwhelmed by grief or disappointment

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Other Word Forms

• brokenheartedly adverb
• brokenheartedness noun

Etymology

Origin of brokenhearted

First recorded in 1520–30

Explanation

Are you so profoundly sad that it feels like a physical pain in your chest? You're brokenhearted. Someone might be brokenhearted about the death of a beloved cat or a falling out with an old friend. Another way to say brokenhearted is heartbroken. Either word is perfect for capturing the sensation that your heart has actually shattered from sorrow. It makes total sense to feel brokenhearted if your best friend snubs you or your favorite grandparent dies. This unhappy adjective has been around since the 1520s.

Example Sentences

Rollin had been dealing with pain from arthritis and a gastrointestinal condition, she said, and had been brokenhearted since the death of her husband, Harold Edwards, a mathematician, in 2020.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2023

This is especially hard when we are so raw and brokenhearted, but it is critical that we find ways to see one another.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2023

Cage is deeply affecting, hiding waves of rage and resentment under a steely-soft demeanor in a heartbreaking story about a brokenhearted human.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023

But Colman explained in a recent interview that costume designer Verity Hawkes wanted to portray the brokenhearted woman as rotting from the inside by darkening her hem to look like there's mold growing through it.

From Salon • Mar. 27, 2023

A few days after Cherry’s trial ended, my friend Mrs. Alpha Robertson—Carole’s brokenhearted mother—quietly passed away.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry