lovesick
Americanadjective
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languishing with love.
a lovesick adolescent.
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expressive of such languishing.
a lovesick note.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lovesick
Explanation
When someone's lovesick, they are broken-hearted or so distracted by love that it affects their daily life. You might be lovesick if your love took off for Bali (unless of course you have plans to take off for Bali too). There are many different reasons for being lovesick: a lovesick boy might have a crush on a girl who barely notices him, and a lovesick teenager could be overwhelmed by feeling such strong emotions for the first time. Your grandmother's collection of old letters might include the ones she wrote as a new, lovesick wife when your grandfather was in the Army. Lovesick dates from the sixteenth century.
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.
One 25-page text seen by AFP suggested workers adopt the persona of "Abby", a lovesick 35-year-old Japanese woman.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025
And while Cecil was lovesick, Penelope was apparently sick of love.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025
The point is the way that Gosling, fresh off his Kenaissance, gazes at the camera — and at Jody — with his trademark sleepy charisma, like he’s both lovesick and faintly amused.
From Seattle Times ● May 2, 2024
Throughout the film, we see Dovydas enthusiastically performing a kind of sign language karaoke against a vivid blue backdrop; his facial expressions are like a lovesick balladeer.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
She took a deep breath—“Jump up and down on the table, squawking like a two-hundred-pound lovesick chicken!”
From "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson
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.
