homesick

adjective

home·​sick ˈhōm-ˌsik How to pronounce homesick (audio)
: longing for home and family while absent from them
homesickness noun

Examples of homesick in a Sentence

He was homesick when he went to college. She was homesick for her mother's cooking.
Recent Examples on the Web This was also the case with Godden’s Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, the tale of two homesick Japanese dolls who have a traditional house created for them by a determined little girl and a clever boy. Sarah Schutte, National Review, 21 Jan. 2024 But that day, a co-owner trekked in from Jersey City to indulge two homesick Ethiopian American women: myself and Kelela, the enigmatic R&B singer whose fan base includes the likes of Beyoncé, Solange, Björk, and, not coincidentally, the Benyam host’s niece. Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2023 The kids get really homesick. Susan Glaser, cleveland, 22 Oct. 2020 This pensive track depicts a wayward son making a slightly homesick call to his mama, lamenting that it’s been too long since he’s been home. Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 6 May 2022 In 1989 a tattered copy of Newsweek ended up in a tiny village on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and fell into the hands of a homesick English teacher. Peter Gwin, National Geographic, 26 Aug. 2020 The culture shock, both on the court and off, left him severely homesick. Connor Letourneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Jan. 2023 Some are homesick for their Homeworld, but all of them have grown to love Earth and the imperfect people who inhabit it. Vulture, 14 Jan. 2022 In late 1965, homesick and tired, Hurt returned to Mississippi. David Brown, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Dec. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'homesick.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1748, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of homesick was in 1748

Dictionary Entries Near homesick

Cite this Entry

“Homesick.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homesick. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

homesick

adjective
home·​sick ˈhōm-ˌsik How to pronounce homesick (audio)
: longing for home and family while away from them
homesickness noun

Medical Definition

homesick

adjective
home·​sick ˈhōm-ˌsik How to pronounce homesick (audio)
: longing for home and family while absent from them
homesickness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on homesick

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