heartsick

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱérd

Proto-Germanic *hertô

Proto-West Germanic *hertā

Old English heorte

Middle English herte

English heart

English sick

English heartsick

From heart + sick.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

heartsick (comparative more heartsick, superlative most heartsick)

1. Very despondent or sorrowful; heartsore.

   Synonyms: miserable, unhappy; see also Thesaurus:sad

   • 2024 September 17, Lauren DePino, “I Sang at Hundreds of Funerals. This Is What I Learned About Grief.”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[1]:

     I stood close to heartsick mourners and worried that I would not sustain the enormousness of their spiritual weight.

Derived terms

• heartsickness