headache
Americannoun
-
a pain located in the head, as over the eyes, at the temples, or at the base of the skull.
-
an annoying or bothersome person, situation, activity, etc.
noun
-
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
-
informal any cause of worry, difficulty, or annoyance
-
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.
-
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
For those who do, the most common symptoms include high fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, nausea and rashes.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Another headache will be tackling ballooning welfare costs, which Burnham has acknowledged need to be reduced.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
A lesser politician might have called it a day and spared himself the headache of introducing more changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
He knew how to take away a headache just by pushing a certain place on your palm.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
Plus, we’ll look at how you can protect yourself from future healthcare headaches.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
And since it never quotes the book directly, it sidesteps a lot of copyright headaches.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
By using federal land in Ohio, the government and its partners hope to avoid the permitting headaches and local opposition that are snarling data centers across the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
"You may experience mild and common symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches or a mild cough," Environment Canada warned.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
“Well, I don’t, either, but two people this morning asked me how I was feeling, and one of ’em wants to tell me what to take for headaches.
From "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
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.
