Synonyms of heartache

heartache

noun

ˈhärt-ˌāk 

as in sorrow

deep sadness especially for the loss of someone or something loved

the heartache she felt when she saw the innocent victims of the war

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sorrow
• grief
• anguish
• heartbreak
• agony
• pain
• guilt
• woe
• suffering
• sorrowfulness
• remorse
• distress
• dolor
• misery
• despair
• melancholy
• depression
• shame
• regret
• torment
• sorriness
• affliction
• unhappiness
• oppression
• dolefulness
• dejection
• blues
• gloom
• wretchedness
• dreariness
• dumps
• heartsickness
• contrition
• despondency
• melancholia
• desolation
• gloominess
• joylessness
• glumness
• miserableness
• rue
• doldrums
• despondence
• downheartedness
• forlornness
• desolateness
• blue devils
• self-reproach
• self-pity
• disconsolateness
• woefulness
• mopes
• dispiritedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• joy
• happiness
• ecstasy
• elation
• pleasure
• delight
• bliss
• euphoria
• glee
• jubilation
• exultation
• exhilaration
• exuberance
• rapture
• gladness
• cheerfulness
• joyousness
• mirth
• joyfulness
• blessedness
• cheer
• felicity
• cheeriness
• merriment
• humor
• optimism
• gaiety
• merrymaking
• lightheartedness
• jollity
• joviality
• gayness
• blissfulness
• hopefulness
• gleefulness
• enjoyment
• elatedness
• gladsomeness
• rapturousness
• mirthfulness
• contentment
• content
• sunniness
• contentedness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of heartache

He was surrounded by family, twelve sets of hands holding his lifeless body, sending him onward with heartache and love and stunned disbelief. — Dr. Lucy McBride, Time, 8 Aug. 2026

Dimitrov, 35, is surging through the field one year after heartache on Centre Court, while Fery, the British 23-year-old, has grabbed the opportunity afforded to him by the tournament with both hands. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 5 July 2026

But Swift will want that right carved out in her prenuptial agreement to avoid potential heartache, according to multiple family attorneys. — Rebecca Keegan, NBC news, 3 July 2026

Ending the show with one final jump affirms that there’s no future in which the Landry family is done with time traveling, despite the trauma and heartache the pond has delivered with its gift. — Megan Vick, Variety, 22 June 2026