heartsick
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heartsick
Explanation
If you've lost someone you love, you'll be desperately sad, or heartsick. Your beloved grandmother's death or your best friend moving far away can both make you feel heartsick. Grief and loss are connected to the adjective heartsick. When someone's heartsick, they're not just bummed out — they are grieving and mournful. You could also describe this as being heartbroken or heavy-hearted. The heart is important here, because of the strong emotion associated with the word. Originally, heartsick literally meant "ill from heart disease."
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.
To the book’s heartsick narrator, Louise Brown, the man who embodies those old-fashioned virtues is Claude Collier, the 27-year-old layabout scion of an aristocratic New Orleans clan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
“Country Radio” provides a sense of heartsick nostalgia over a hopeful chorus of stringed instruments.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2025
Montoya can at least claim to know the score, since he was a Spanish reality TV veteran before romantic distress transformed him into a heartsick Sonic the Hedgehog.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2025
As if in a cipher made up of different versions of himself, there’s an endless give-and-take between Idris the teacher and Idris the performer and Idris the writer and Idris the nerdy heartsick hip-hop stan.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
I get a real heartsick feeling then, wondering if I gone too far.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
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.
