heartsick.

Feeling profound sorrow or emotional distress.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• heartsick at the news
• heartsick with grief

On the page

She was heartsick at the thought of leaving the village.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more heartsick; superlative most heartsick when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.