homesick

homesick — adjective

1. feeling sad and lonely because you are far away from the place where you usually

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

feeling sad and lonely because you are far away from the place where you usually live and from the people you know there, and you want very much to go back

Example

Tuan felt homesick during his first month at university in a different country.

predicative: feel + homesick

On her first night at summer camp, eight-year-old Anjali told her counselor she felt homesick.

predicative after tell + that-clause

Common collocations
  • feel homesick
  • get homesick
  • be homesick
  • homesick for
  • terribly / desperately / really homesick
  • a homesick child / student / camper
Synonyms
  • nostalgic

    more about warm, bittersweet memories of the past rather than present unhappiness; can apply to any time period, not just home

  • longing

    stronger but less specific — can apply to any desire (e.g., longing for adventure), not tied to home or family

  • yearning

    more formal and intense; suggests a deep, lasting emotional ache rather than temporary sadness

Antonyms
  • content

    feeling satisfied and comfortable where you are, with no desire to leave

  • at home

    feeling comfortable and welcome in a place, as if it were your own home

Grammar Patterns

feel / get / be + homesick

homesick + for + [something/someone missed]

Usage Note

Typically used after linking verbs such as feel, get, or be (predicative position), though attributive use before a noun is also possible. When specifying what is missed, use the pattern homesick for + noun phrase (e.g., homesick for one's family / one's hometown).

Common Mistakes

I am homesick my family.
I am homesick for my family.
homesick requires the preposition for when the thing you miss is named.
The trip made me homesick my country.
The trip made me homesick for my country.
same rule: for must precede the thing missed.

Word family

  • homesickness
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Homesick is the most everyday word for the specific sadness of being away from home — it always implies a present sense of separation and a wish to return. Nostalgic is broader and more bittersweet: you can feel nostalgic about a childhood holiday or an old song without wanting to go back there. Longing is a more general, often poetic word for a deep wish for something (or someone) absent — you might feel longing for peace, for justice, or for a lost friend, not just for home. Yearning is the strongest of the four, suggesting a lasting, almost painful ache. Compare: 'He felt homesick during his first week abroad' (temporary, place-specific) vs. 'He felt a lifelong yearning for the mountains of his youth' (deep, enduring). For everyday conversations about missing home, stick with homesick.

homesick ↗nostalgic ↗longingyearning

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • feel homesick
  • get homesick
  • be homesick
  • become homesick
  • suffer from homesickness

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishModern English

The word homesick combines home (from Old English hām, meaning 'dwelling place' or 'one's own village') with sick. Here sick carries an older meaning of 'longing for' or 'yearning' — the same sense found in expressions like 'sick with love' or 'sick at heart'. The compound was first recorded in English around the mid-1700s, a period when long sea voyages and colonial travel meant people spent years away from home. The noun homesickness appeared shortly afterward.