headache
Americannoun
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a pain located in the head, as over the eyes, at the temples, or at the base of the skull.
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an annoying or bothersome person, situation, activity, etc.
noun
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Technical name: cephalalgia. pain in the head, caused by dilation of cerebral arteries, muscle contraction, insufficient oxygen in the cerebral blood, reaction to drugs, etc
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informal any cause of worry, difficulty, or annoyance
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Pain in the head, caused by stimulation of or pressure to any of various structures of the head, such as tissue covering the cranium, cranial nerves, or blood vessels. Headache can be a primary disorder, as in migraine or cluster headaches, or a common symptom associated with head injury or many illnesses such as acute infection, brain tumor or abscess, eye disorders such as glaucoma, dental disease, and hypertension.
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See also cluster headache migraine
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of headache
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hēafodece. See head, ache
Compare meaning
How does headache compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A headache is a pain or ache in your head, especially one that lasts longer than a few minutes. You might get a headache after a day of staring at a computer screen. There are many reasons for getting a headache, from staying up too late to a stressful day to skipping your morning cup of coffee. A more serious type of headache, like a migraine, might keep you home from work for a day, but most headaches are just a nuisance. You can also describe a problem or struggle as a figurative headache: "Learning Danish is turning out to be a real headache." In Old English, the word was heafodece.
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.
See Examples For:
Finding parking in a city is a headache for most drivers, and the same goes for self-driving robotaxis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The building has now been substantially refurbished and its facade changed, but it has been a huge headache for Austrian authorities, who want to prevent it from becoming a site of neo-Nazi pilgrimage.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Another headache will be tackling ballooning welfare costs, which Burnham has acknowledged need to be reduced.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Another headache arose on Friday with Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing it of stealing trade secrets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The second test had to do with spatial relationships and left me with a headache that would last for the next twenty-four hours.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
And since it never quotes the book directly, it sidesteps a lot of copyright headaches.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
One thing is certain: The real-world headaches and benefits of mobile technology have invaded the happiest place on Earth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Turnbull said the treatment had stopped her waking during the night and suffering from headaches, adding: "It is amazing because it changes your life."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Before long, she said, she got persistent headaches, which she blamed on fumes from the dump three miles away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
The schoolmistress had been suffering from terrible headaches that were, Xan discovered, the result of a growth in the center of her brain.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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.
