This list includes 15 Emotions that start with H, from “Happiness” to “Hurt”, and covers common and nuanced feelings. You can use it for writing, teaching, therapy prompts, or quick reference.
Emotions that start with H are words labeling feelings that begin with the letter H, from joyful to painful. Across languages, a few H-words like “happiness” map closely to universal positive states.
Below you’ll find the table with Emotion, Type, Definition, and Example.
Emotion: The name of the feeling; you use it to locate and refer to a specific H-based emotion quickly.
Type: Indicate whether the emotion is Positive, Negative, or Neutral; this helps you choose tone and context.
Definition: A concise one-sentence meaning that clarifies use and nuance; you read it to grasp each emotion quickly.
Example: A short sentence showing the emotion in context; you can copy or adapt it for writing and teaching.
Emotions that start with H
| Emotion | Type | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happiness | Positive | A state of joy, contentment, and well-being. | She felt happiness after the good news. |
| Hilarity | Positive | Intense amusement that triggers loud laughter. | The sketch caused uncontrollable hilarity in the audience. |
| Hope | Positive | A feeling of expectation and desire for an outcome. | She kept hope for a better tomorrow. |
| Hopefulness | Positive | A positive expectation about possible future outcomes. | Their hopefulness lifted the team’s spirits. |
| Hopelessness | Negative | A feeling of despair and belief that nothing will improve. | He sank into hopelessness after repeated failures. |
| Hatred | Negative | An intense, enduring feeling of dislike or hostility. | Her hatred toward injustice motivated activism. |
| Horror | Negative | An intense feeling of shock, fear, or revulsion. | She watched the scene with mounting horror. |
| Hostility | Negative | An antagonistic or unfriendly attitude toward others. | His hostility made collaboration difficult. |
| Humiliation | Negative | A painful feeling of loss of dignity or pride. | Public criticism caused deep humiliation for him. |
| Homesickness | Negative | Longing sadness from being separated from home or familiar people. | She felt homesickness during her first semester away. |
| Heartache | Negative | Emotional pain or deep sorrow, often from loss. | The breakup left her with heartache. |
| Heartbreak | Negative | Severe emotional anguish, typically after relationship loss. | He experienced heartbreak after the divorce. |
| Helplessness | Negative | Feeling unable to influence events or change outcomes. | Faced with bureaucracy, she felt helplessness. |
| Hurt | Negative | Emotional pain caused by offense, loss, or rejection. | His harsh words left her hurt. |
| Humor | Positive | The quality or tendency that provokes amusement and laughter. | He used humor to ease the tension. |
Descriptions
Happiness
A broad, commonly studied positive emotion tied to satisfaction, pleasure, and life evaluation; central to well-being and cross-cultural research.
Hilarity
A strong form of amusement often linked to social bonding and release; appears in dictionaries as a noun for boisterous laughter.
Hope
A forward-looking emotion that motivates goal pursuit and coping, studied in psychology as distinct from optimism and wishful thinking.
Hopefulness
A sustained form of hope that supports resilience and planning, often measured in studies of coping and stress.
Hopelessness
A severe, negative state linked to depression and reduced motivation; important clinically and in suicide-risk research.
Hatred
A strong negative social emotion; often directed at people or groups and linked to dehumanization and aggression.
Horror
A sharp aversive emotion combining fear and disgust; common in reactions to extreme threat or moral violations.
Hostility
A social-emotional stance often expressed as anger or aggression; can be transient or chronic and affects relationships.
Humiliation
A self-conscious emotion arising from perceived social devaluation; linked to shame, anger, and social consequences.
Homesickness
An affective response to separation and unfamiliarity often involving yearning, sadness, and cultural adjustment difficulties.
Heartache
A colloquial term for intense sadness associated with loss, grief, or romantic pain; widely used in everyday language.
Heartbreak
A strong, often prolonged emotional response to significant relational loss; central to narratives about grief and recovery.
Helplessness
A demotivating affective state linked to stress and learned helplessness research; reduces perceived control and action.
Hurt
A common everyday label for social or emotional injury; overlaps with sadness and anger but denotes personal wounding.
Humor
An emotional and cultural tool that evokes amusement, builds rapport, and can regulate mood; recognized in lexicons as an emotion-related noun.