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heart of hearts

heart of hearts

19 6.1
The deepest feeling a person has inside that they do not show
  • idiom
  • Literature
translation icon : lo más profundo del corazón
  • But in my heart of hearts, I knew the truth.

But in our heart of hearts, we know we'll be OK.

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Examples

  • I think in her heart of hearts, she kind of wanted to get caught.

  • But in our heart of hearts, we know we'll be OK.

  • Ask yourself, in your heart of hearts, are you worth what you charge?

  • But I know in my heart of hearts that we did get in trouble.

  • If you know in your heart of hearts that you should do something, then guess what?

  • And you, in your heart of hearts, know you could be out there, too.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • In your heart of hearts, you know the plain and simple truth.

  • In my heart of hearts, I know that you don't want that either.

  • For Raed knew in his heart of hearts that he was actually seeing his daughter now.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • In my heart of hearts, I believe that kindness will always triumph over hate.

Synonyms

heart
vsheart of hearts
1.8

The center of a person's feelings, like love or courage

is true private feelings rather than general emotional strength
heartstring
vsheart of hearts
  • Informal
15 5.2

Deep feelings that strongly affect someone

is true private feelings not openly admitted
heartstrings
vsheart of hearts
  • Informal
1 7.0

Deep feelings of love or sympathy that make you feel moved

is true private feelings not openly acknowledged

Antonyms

4 5.6

Not showing true feelings when you speak or act

How Deep

heart of hearts
  • Literature
19 6.1
innermost
22 4.5
personal
1.4
feelings
4 1.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

heart + of + heart

The central metaphor of 'heart' as the seat of emotions makes the basic idea of 'deepest feelings' reasonably inferable from the constituents, so a learner who knows 'heart' and 'of' can guess the general meaning. However, the doubled form 'heart of hearts' is a fixed idiomatic intensifier with a specific nuance (innermost, not openly acknowledged) that is not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Heart of hearts may come from the image of a small heart hidden deep inside another heart, like a tiny room in the very center. So it now means 'a person's deepest true feelings'.