broken heart
Love's painful end
A broken heart is the emotional anguish of lost love—through rejection, betrayal, or death.
The metaphor treats grief as physical damage to the heart: She nursed a broken heart for months after the breakup.
To die of a broken heart is to succumb to overwhelming sorrow.
Heartbroken and brokenhearted are the adjective forms.
Period following loss
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- bereavementState following loss
- lossBeing without something
despair · heartache · sadness · tears · misery · loneliness · emptiness · devastation
Not returned in kind
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- lovesickPining from romantic longing
- lovelornUnhappy due to unreturned affection
- piningAching with prolonged desire
yearning · crush · lost love · separation · breakup · bittersweet · first love · soulmate
Disloyalty to a partner
- cheatingDeceptive rule-breaking
- unfaithfulnessBreach of romantic commitment
- disloyaltyBreach of allegiance
- deceitDeliberate misleading of others
treachery · rejection · abandonment · adultery · deception · lies · trust · dishonesty
Regaining what was lost
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- therapyCurative mental treatment
- self-careMaintaining personal wellbeing
- closureSense of emotional resolution
moving on · acceptance · hope · support · counseling · time · forgiveness · rebuilding
mourning
Period following loss
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- bereavementState following loss
loss · despair · heartache · sadness · tears · misery · loneliness · emptiness · devastation · suffering
unrequited
Not returned in kind
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- lovesickPining from romantic longing
- lovelornUnhappy due to unreturned affection
pining · yearning · crush · lost love · separation · breakup · bittersweet · first love · soulmate · star-crossed
infidelity
Disloyalty to a partner
- cheatingDeceptive rule-breaking
- unfaithfulnessBreach of romantic commitment
- disloyaltyBreach of allegiance
deceit · treachery · rejection · abandonment · adultery · deception · lies · trust · dishonesty · jilted
recovery
Regaining what was lost
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- therapyCurative mental treatment
- self-careMaintaining personal wellbeing
closure · moving on · acceptance · hope · support · counseling · time · forgiveness · rebuilding · strength
- folk song imageryold oak tree, willow tree, river crossing, rolling hills, dusty trail
- heartbreakheartache, dumping, lost love, unrequited love, lovesick
- heartsQueen of Hearts, valentine, Cupid
- love poemslove poem, love sonnet, love ballad, love letter poem, aubade
- heart in art
- Heart Termsheartache, heartbeat
broken hearthappily ever after
Traditional story's final promise
true love · lasting love · committed relationship · union · togetherness
broken heartheart of gold
Deeply generous nature
open heart · warm heart · light heart · emotional resilience · inner peace
break, heart, broken, unbroken, heartbreak, heartbroken, disheartened, broken-hearted, broken hearts