headache
Americannoun
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headaches
plural
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a pain located in the head, as over the eyes, at the temples, or at the base of the skull.
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an annoying or bothersome person, situation, activity, etc.
noun
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Technical name: cephalalgia. pain in the head, caused by dilation of cerebral arteries, muscle contraction, insufficient oxygen in the cerebral blood, reaction to drugs, etc
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informal any cause of worry, difficulty, or annoyance
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Pain in the head, caused by stimulation of or pressure to any of various structures of the head, such as tissue covering the cranium, cranial nerves, or blood vessels. Headache can be a primary disorder, as in migraine or cluster headaches, or a common symptom associated with head injury or many illnesses such as acute infection, brain tumor or abscess, eye disorders such as glaucoma, dental disease, and hypertension.
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See also cluster headache migraine
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of headache
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hēafodece. See head, ache
Compare meaning
How does headache compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A headache is a pain or ache in your head, especially one that lasts longer than a few minutes. You might get a headache after a day of staring at a computer screen. There are many reasons for getting a headache, from staying up too late to a stressful day to skipping your morning cup of coffee. A more serious type of headache, like a migraine, might keep you home from work for a day, but most headaches are just a nuisance. You can also describe a problem or struggle as a figurative headache: "Learning Danish is turning out to be a real headache." In Old English, the word was heafodece.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"They were really hard, about three days. It's not pleasant, you just have a constant headache all the time."
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
It sounds like a years-long headache in the making.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Another insurance headache: the resilience of new hyperscale data centers, each of which can house billions of dollars in physical assets, is largely untested.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
She sprang from Zeus’ skull fully formed; her embryonic development reduced to a male deity’s headache.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
His headache gone, Fadi went back to brainstorming about how to get enough money to fly back to Pakistan.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Paying for the UK's growing defence commitments is one of Healey's biggest headaches as he prepares for the Budget in October and next year's spending review.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
I’d love to hear any practical suggestions for structuring this so that it is easy for the restaurant, seamless for the staff and customers, and doesn’t create unnecessary headaches for anyone.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Roland-Garros limits the carnage by putting on only one big match at night, but that creates headaches about selection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
In one grassroots effort to ease headaches, an online platform has been created to allow users to upload real-time updates on availability, prices and waiting times.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Her father has District 12 to run and her mother gets fierce headaches that force her to stay in bed for days.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
