"Homesick" in Spanish: Correct Translation and Cultural Nuance

"Hogar enfermo" is incorrect. It literally means "sick home."

Correct Translations

• Tener nostalgia de casa — most common, natural ("to have nostalgia for home")
• Extrañar la casa / el hogar — "to miss home"
• Morriña — Galician term (NW Spain) for deep, melancholic homesickness; used poetically nationwide.
• Estar añorado/a — "to be missed/longed for" (reflexive, less common)

Etymology Note

Nostalgia = Greek nóstos (homecoming) + álgos (pain). Coined 1688 by Swiss physician Johannes Hofer for "severe homesickness in mercenaries."

Usage Examples

• _Tengo mucha nostalgia de casa._ (I'm very homesick.)
• _Extraño mi casa y a mi familia._ (I miss my home and family.)
• _La morriña me consume._ (Homesickness consumes me — poetic.)

Avoid literal translations. "Hogar enfermo" would confuse native speakers.