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headache

noun

Simple meaning

Pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hehdayk

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhɛdeɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. medicine

    Pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs

  2. medicine

    A pain or ache in the head.

  3. figurative

    A nuisance or unpleasant problem.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
General and technical use

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries or muscle contractions or a reaction to drugs

Used this way, headache is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.

Emotional tone
Slightly negative
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Clinical and detached

Where it naturally appears

  • Medicine/healthcare
  • Science
  • Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Nearby words

  • head ache , rarer, so it draws attention
  • cephalalgia , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

cluster headachemigraine headachetension headachesick headachebad headacheinclude headachetype headacheheadache pain

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • headache powdernounCompound term

    A powdered form of aspirin.

  • cluster headachenounCompound term

    A painful recurring headache associated with the release of histamine from cells.

  • sick headachenounCompound term

    A headache accompanied by nausea.

  • sinus headachenounCompound term

    A headache resulting from congestion or infection in the paranasal sinuses.

  • tension headachenounCompound term

    A headache located at the back of the head.

  • histamine headachenounCompound term

    A painful recurring headache associated with the release of histamine from cells.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: pain in the head caused by dilation of cerebral arteries

head acheRarecephalalgiaRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.