A sudden, intense emotional shock or disturbance; a powerful emotional upheaval affecting one's deepest feelings.
From 'heart' plus 'quake' (from Old English 'cwacian,' meaning to shake or tremble). This compound was likely coined by poets and writers to parallel the physical metaphor of an earthquake with emotional upheaval.
English speakers love creating new words by combining existing ones to express emotions—'heartquake' combines the physical sensation of an earthquake with the emotional center (the heart) to describe feelings so intense they shake you to your core.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.