45 Idioms for Heart
The heart is more than just an organ that pumps blood. In our language, it represents feelings, love, courage, and the center of who we are. That’s why we have so many idioms about the heart. These phrases help us talk about our deepest emotions and thoughts in colorful, meaningful ways.
This article will explore idioms that use the word “heart.” These expressions can help you speak about feelings, relationships, and life experiences in a rich and thoughtful way. You’ll also find a short activity to practice using these heart idioms in real situations.
Idioms for Heart
1. Heart of gold
Meaning: A very kind and generous person.
Sentence Example: My grandmother has a heart of gold – she always helps her neighbors. / The volunteer at the animal shelter has a heart of gold.
Other Ways to Say: Kind soul / Good heart
2. Break someone’s heart
Meaning: Make someone very sad or hurt their feelings deeply.
Sentence Example: It broke my heart when my best friend moved away. / The sad movie broke everyone’s heart.
Other Ways to Say: Hurt deeply / Make very sad
3. Wear your heart on your sleeve
Meaning: Show your feelings openly and honestly.
Sentence Example: Sarah wears her heart on her sleeve – you always know how she feels. / He wears his heart on his sleeve when he talks about his family.
Other Ways to Say: Show emotions / Be open about feelings
4. Heart and soul
Meaning: With complete effort and dedication.
Sentence Example: She put her heart and soul into the school play. / The chef cooks with heart and soul in every dish.
Other Ways to Say: Complete effort / Full dedication
5. Change of heart
Meaning: Decide to think or feel differently about something.
Sentence Example: I had a change of heart about trying out for the team. / Mom had a change of heart and let me go to the sleepover.
Other Ways to Say: Change your mind / Think differently
6. Heart skips a beat
Meaning: Feel excited, surprised, or nervous suddenly.
Sentence Example: My heart skipped a beat when I saw my test score. / Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the good news.
Other Ways to Say: Feel surprised / Get excited
7. Close to your heart
Meaning: Very important and meaningful to you.
Sentence Example: Helping animals is very close to my heart. / Family traditions are close to his heart.
Other Ways to Say: Very important / Really matters
8. Heart is in the right place
Meaning: Have good intentions even if things don’t work out perfectly.
Sentence Example: Even though he messed up the surprise party, his heart was in the right place. / Her heart is in the right place when she tries to help.
Other Ways to Say: Good intentions / Mean well
9. From the bottom of my heart
Meaning: Very sincerely and truly.
Sentence Example: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me. / I apologize from the bottom of my heart for what I did.
Other Ways to Say: Very sincerely / Truly mean it
10. Heart of stone
Meaning: Someone who doesn’t show feelings or kindness.
Sentence Example: The mean teacher seemed to have a heart of stone. / You’d have to have a heart of stone not to cry during that movie.
Other Ways to Say: Very cold / No feelings
11. Take to heart
Meaning: Think seriously about something someone said.
Sentence Example: I took my coach’s advice to heart and practiced more. / She took the criticism to heart and worked harder.
Other Ways to Say: Think seriously / Consider carefully
12. Heart goes out to
Meaning: Feel sorry for someone and want to help them.
Sentence Example: My heart goes out to families who lost their homes in the fire. / Our hearts go out to the injured player.
Other Ways to Say: Feel sorry / Want to help
13. Young at heart
Meaning: Feel and act younger than your age.
Sentence Example: My grandpa is 80 but still young at heart. / She’s young at heart and loves to play games.
Other Ways to Say: Feel young / Act youthful
14. Cross my heart
Meaning: Promise that something is true.
Sentence Example: Cross my heart, I didn’t eat the last cookie. / Cross my heart and hope to die, I’ll keep your secret.
Other Ways to Say: I promise / I swear
15. Heart-to-heart
Meaning: An honest and open conversation.
Sentence Example: Mom and I had a heart-to-heart talk about my grades. / The coach had a heart-to-heart with the team after the loss.
Other Ways to Say: Honest talk / Open conversation
16. Heavy heart
Meaning: Feeling very sad or worried.
Sentence Example: I left for camp with a heavy heart because I’d miss my family. / She spoke with a heavy heart about her sick pet.
Other Ways to Say: Feeling sad / Very worried
17. Heart is racing
Meaning: Feel very excited, nervous, or scared.
Sentence Example: My heart was racing before I gave my speech. / Her heart was racing when she saw the surprise party.
Other Ways to Say: Very nervous / Really excited
18. Know by heart
Meaning: Memorize something completely.
Sentence Example: I know all the words to that song by heart. / She knows the poem by heart after practicing so much.
Other Ways to Say: Memorized / Know perfectly
19. Heart of the matter
Meaning: The most important part of a problem or situation.
Sentence Example: The heart of the matter is that we need to work together. / Let’s get to the heart of the matter and solve this problem.
Other Ways to Say: Main point / Most important part
20. Steal someone’s heart
Meaning: Make someone fall in love or like you very much.
Sentence Example: The cute puppy stole everyone’s heart at the pet store. / The little girl’s singing stole the audience’s heart.
Other Ways to Say: Win someone over / Make someone love you
21. Heart sinks
Meaning: Suddenly feel disappointed or sad.
Sentence Example: My heart sank when I saw my low test score. / Her heart sank when she heard the bad news.
Other Ways to Say: Feel disappointed / Get sad
22. Have a heart
Meaning: Be kind and understanding.
Sentence Example: Have a heart and let him try again. / Come on, have a heart – she’s doing her best.
Other Ways to Say: Be kind / Show mercy
23. Set your heart on
Meaning: Really want something badly.
Sentence Example: I’ve set my heart on getting that new bike. / She set her heart on winning the art contest.
Other Ways to Say: Really want / Badly desire
24. Eat your heart out
Meaning: Be jealous or envious.
Sentence Example: Eat your heart out – I got tickets to the concert! / Look at my new skateboard and eat your heart out.
Other Ways to Say: Be jealous / Feel envious
25. Heart stands still
Meaning: Feel shocked or very surprised.
Sentence Example: My heart stood still when I heard my name called for the award. / Her heart stood still when she saw the accident.
Other Ways to Say: Feel shocked / Very surprised
26. Pour your heart out
Meaning: Share your deepest feelings with someone.
Sentence Example: I poured my heart out to my best friend about my problems. / She poured her heart out in her diary.
Other Ways to Say: Share feelings / Open up
27. Warm the heart
Meaning: Make someone feel happy and loved.
Sentence Example: Seeing the kids help their teacher warmed my heart. / Her kind letter warmed his heart.
Other Ways to Say: Make happy / Bring joy
28. Heart’s content
Meaning: As much as you want.
Sentence Example: At the party, we danced to our heart’s content. / She read books to her heart’s content during summer break.
Other Ways to Say: As much as wanted / Completely satisfied
29. Lose heart
Meaning: Stop believing you can succeed or feel hopeless.
Sentence Example: Don’t lose heart – you’ll get better at piano with practice. / The team lost heart after losing three games.
Other Ways to Say: Give up hope / Feel discouraged
30. With all my heart
Meaning: Completely and sincerely.
Sentence Example: I love you with all my heart, Mom. / She thanked her teacher with all her heart.
Other Ways to Say: Completely / Very sincerely
31. Heart’s desire
Meaning: What you want most of all.
Sentence Example: Getting a puppy was her heart’s desire. / His heart’s desire was to play professional baseball.
Other Ways to Say: Biggest wish / What you want most
32. Do my heart good
Meaning: Make me feel happy and satisfied.
Sentence Example: It does my heart good to see you helping others. / Watching the sunset does my heart good.
Other Ways to Say: Makes me happy / Brings joy
33. Strike at the heart of
Meaning: Attack the most important part of something.
Sentence Example: The new rule strikes at the heart of the problem. / Her speech struck at the heart of what we all felt.
Other Ways to Say: Get to the main point / Attack the core
34. Take heart
Meaning: Feel encouraged or hopeful.
Sentence Example: Take heart – things will get better soon. / The team took heart from their coach’s encouraging words.
Other Ways to Say: Be encouraged / Feel hopeful
35. Heart of darkness
Meaning: The evil or bad part of something or someone.
Sentence Example: The movie showed the heart of darkness in the villain’s character. / Bullying comes from a heart of darkness.
Other Ways to Say: Evil center / Bad core
36. Follow your heart
Meaning: Do what feels right to you emotionally.
Sentence Example: When choosing colleges, follow your heart. / I followed my heart and joined the art club.
Other Ways to Say: Trust your feelings / Do what feels right
37. Heart bleeds for
Meaning: Feel very sorry for someone’s pain.
Sentence Example: My heart bleeds for the homeless animals in the shelter. / Our hearts bleed for the families affected by the storm.
Other Ways to Say: Feel very sorry / Have deep sympathy
38. Cold-hearted
Meaning: Cruel and without feelings.
Sentence Example: It was cold-hearted to laugh at the boy who fell. / The cold-hearted landlord kicked out the poor family.
Other Ways to Say: Very cruel / Without kindness
39. Have your heart set on
Meaning: Really want something specific.
Sentence Example: She has her heart set on being a doctor. / I have my heart set on that red bicycle.
Other Ways to Say: Really want / Strongly desire
40. Heart in your throat
Meaning: Feel very nervous or scared.
Sentence Example: I had my heart in my throat during the scary movie. / Her heart was in her throat before the big test.
Other Ways to Say: Very nervous / Really scared
41. Speak from the heart
Meaning: Say what you truly feel.
Sentence Example: The graduation speech came straight from the heart. / When she thanked her parents, she spoke from the heart.
Other Ways to Say: Be sincere / Say what you mean
42. Open your heart
Meaning: Be willing to love, trust, or help someone.
Sentence Example: She opened her heart to the new student and became friends. / Open your heart to new experiences.
Other Ways to Say: Be willing to love / Trust others
43. Heart of the city
Meaning: The main or most important part of a place.
Sentence Example: The park is in the heart of the city. / Our school is in the heart of the neighborhood.
Other Ways to Say: Center / Main part
44. Half-hearted
Meaning: Not putting in full effort or enthusiasm.
Sentence Example: His half-hearted apology didn’t seem real. / She gave a half-hearted try at cleaning her room.
Other Ways to Say: Not trying hard / Without enthusiasm
45. Heart of gold melting
Meaning: A kind person becoming moved by something touching.
Sentence Example: Even the tough coach’s heart of gold was melting when he saw the injured player. / Her heart of gold was melting as she watched the cute puppies.
Other Ways to Say: Getting emotional / Being touched
Exercise to practice
- My teacher has a _______ – she always helps students who are struggling.
- When I saw my surprise birthday party, my _______.
- I _______ my advice about studying harder.
- The sad movie _______ of everyone in the theater.
- She put her _______ into learning to play the guitar.
- I know my favorite poem _______ after reading it so many times.
- Don’t _______ if you don’t make the team this year.
- Thank you _______ for helping me with my project.
- The coach had a _______ talk with the player about teamwork.
- My grandmother is 85 but still _______.
- I _______ getting the lead role in the school play.
- _______, I didn’t break your favorite mug.
- It _______ to see children helping their elderly neighbors.
- She _______ to her best friend about her family problems.
- My _______ when I heard I didn’t make the honor roll.
Answer Key
- heart of gold
- heart skipped a beat
- took to heart
- broke the hearts
- heart and soul
- by heart
- lose heart
- from the bottom of my heart
- heart-to-heart
- young at heart
- set my heart on
- Cross my heart
- does my heart good
- poured her heart out
- heart sank
Conclusion
Heart idioms help us talk about our deepest feelings and emotions in beautiful ways. They make our language richer and help others understand what we truly mean. Whether you’re talking about love, sadness, courage, or kindness, these phrases can help you speak from the heart.
Try using some of these heart idioms in your conversations. A simple “from the bottom of my heart” or “heart-to-heart” can make your words more meaningful and show people how much you care. Remember, the heart of good communication is sharing your true feelings.
