Translation guide
The emotional pain of sadness, grief, or longing, especially related to love or loss.
Express deep sadness or grief, especially from romantic disappointment or loss of a loved one.
Express the ache of missing someone or wanting something unattainable.
心痛 is a noun and sounds slightly more formal or written. 胸が痛む is a verb phrase and feels more immediate and conversational. Use 胸が痛む when describing your own current feeling.
I can't sleep from heartache.
The heartache of losing a child is unimaginable.
Literally 'heart pain', this is the most direct and common translation for emotional anguish or heartache. Used in both spoken and written Japanese.
I'm suffering from the heartache of a broken heart.
A natural phrase meaning 'my chest hurts', used to describe the physical sensation of emotional pain. Very common in everyday speech.
It gives me heartache to see her sad face.
Similar to 胸が痛む but more directly 'my heart hurts'. Slightly more literary or introspective.
My heart ached when I heard the news.
Deep grief or sorrow, often used in formal or literary contexts. Stronger than everyday heartache.
He lost his beloved and was consumed by deep heartache.
An adjective describing a painful, tight feeling in the chest from longing, nostalgia, or unrequited love. Very common in songs and everyday speech.
A long-distance relationship is heartache.
Listening to this song makes me feel heartache.
Literally 'my chest is squeezed', this vividly expresses the physical sensation of emotional pain from longing or sadness.
When I remember him, I feel a heartache.
Yearning or longing, often with a romantic or nostalgic nuance. More literary.
Heartache for my hometown burns in my chest.
胸が痛くて眠れない。
My heart aches so much I can't sleep.
While 心 (こころ) means heart/mind, directly saying 心の痛み (こころのいたみ) is less common than 心痛 or 胸が痛む. The latter are more idiomatic.
彼女は笑顔の裏に心痛を隠そうとした。
She tried to hide her heartache behind a smile.