phrase requests - A word for the heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can't have


There is a phrase in French that exactly means this: "la douleur exquise"


It literally means "the exquisite pain" and expresses the pain of wanting the affection of someone unattainable. I think it is not used as a loan phrase in English and the translation does not make much sense.


Is there an equivalent word or phrase in English?



Note I:



Sometimes, platonic love is used in this sense (though not exactly for the pain) but it is actually an emotional relationship without sexual desires. I'm not sure if there is a semantic shift in the meaning though.




Note II:



“Unrequited love” describes a relationship state, but not a state of mind. Unrequited love encompasses the lover who isn’t reciprocating, as well as the lover who desires. La douleur exquise gets at the emotional heartache, specifically, of being the one whose love is unreciprocated.



Source: ~



Answer



The term lovelorn addresses both the unrequited love and the emotional state of the person whose love is unrequited.



Unhappy because of unrequited love.



Synonyms:




  • lovesick

  • pining

  • languishing

  • spurned

  • jilted

  • rejected

  • forsaken



If you are looking for a noun, there is also lovelornness:



The state or fact of being miserable because of unrequited love or unhappiness in love.



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