Heartburn

//ˈhɑːtˌbɜːn// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A burning pain in the chest that is caused by stomach acid entering the gullet. countable, uncountable

    "Coordinate term: cardiodynia"

  2. 2
    a painful burning sensation in the chest caused by gastroesophageal reflux (backflow from the stomach irritating the esophagus); symptomatic of an ulcer or a diaphragmatic hernia or other disorder wordnet
  3. 3
    annoyance, heartache, or similar feelings. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "”There’s some heartburn about the fact the message is getting stepped on,” said Mark McKinnon, Bush’s campaign media strategist."

Synonyms

All synonyms
cardialgiaindigestionpyrosispyrosisacheaching

Example

More examples

"Miyoko carried a torch so long, I think it gave her heartburn."

Etymology

From Middle English hertbryne, herte-bren (“lust", also "heartburn”, literally “heart burn”), equivalent to heart + burn. Compare also Middle English herte-brennyng (“anger, bitterness, heartburn”, literally “burning of/in the heart, heart-burning”). Compare also Ancient Greek καρδιαλγία (kardialgía), from καρδία (kardía, “heart”) + ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”). From being a burning sensation near the location of the heart in the chest.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.