noun
heartbreak
HAHT-brayk
noun
1
Intense sadness or grief, especially after losing someone or something you loved deeply.
"He never fully recovered from the heartbreak of his first divorce."
"Losing the family home caused real heartbreak for everyone."
How to Use Heartbreak
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishCrushing emotional pain, most often linked to lost love.
Common pairings
cause heartbreak
the heartbreak of losing
spare her the heartbreak
Word Forms
heartbreaks plural
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He never fully recovered from the _____ of his first divorce.
Etymology
A compound of "heart" and "break," picturing grief as literally shattering the heart — a very old and universal metaphor across languages.