all heart
5
4.5
- idiom
:
de buen corazón
- My grandmother is all heart; she volunteers at the local shelter every week.
My mother was all heart and I am my mother's son.
- My mother was all heart and I am my mother's son.
Examples
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All heart and a mile wide, vicarious warrior and victor.
Fiction book (1996) -
It's all heart, you understand?
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That fellow was all heart.
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My mother was all heart and I am my mother's son.
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You're all heart, you know that?
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A great lumbering woman who is all heart.
Fiction book (2000) -
We realized we can't be all heart, but we can't be just all money either.
Academic text (2016) -
These shows would be all heart and deal with people's day-to-day realities, just as Oprah did.
Blog text (6) -
I was grateful for the silence and for a hug that held no resistance, a full-body hug that was like the man who gave it: all heart and no apologies.
Academic text (2008) -
One such worthy, Mitt Romney, is (according to Patrick Marquee, a policy analyst for Coalition for the Homeless) all heart.
Blog text (23)
Synonyms
9
2.5
A person who cares about others and often helps them
Antonyms
How Kind
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'full of kindness/compassion' is directly derivable from combining 'all' (entirely) with 'heart' (center of emotions/compassion); the construction signals being wholly characterized by the named quality. This compositional pattern (being 'all' X = completely X) and the metaphor of 'heart' for feeling is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words should understand it.
Etymology
All heart comes from the simple image of a person whose whole being is a heart, always giving care and courage. So, calling someone all heart means they are 'full of kindness' and ready to help others.