eat one's heart out

Ache with longing

To eat one's heart out is to suffer silently from longing, grief, or envy.

The phrase often appears as a command directed at someone who might be jealous: Eat your heart out, Shakespeare—I just wrote a sonnet.

Used this way, it's a playful boast suggesting the speaker has done something impressive enough to make others envious.

envy

jealous

Resentful of others' advantages

resentful · begrudging · grudging · sour grapes · bitter · spiteful · jaundiced · invidious · outshine · upstage

longing

yearning

Intense prolonged craving

languishing · wistful · melancholy · nostalgia · heartache · lovesick · unrequited · sighing · brooding · tormented

Opposites
emotional state

eat one's heart outrejoice

Feel or show delight

celebrate · be happy · revel · move on · jump for joy

relationship to desire

eat one's heart outcount one's blessings

Acknowledge one's good fortune

rest easy · have it all · live the dream · savor · enjoy

self-care/well-being

eat one's heart outlet it go

Cease fixating on something

move on · let bygones be bygones · water off a duck's back · roll with the punches

Family

eats, eating, eaten, eater, eaters, ones, heart, hearts, hearty

Familiarity
Top 100,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G