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Glite Dictionary
💓 Deep emotions 🫀 Heart tendon
heartstring

heartstring

15 5.2
Deep feelings that strongly affect someone
  • noun
  • /ˈhɑrtˌstrɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : sentimiento profundo
  • The touching tribute to the veteran at the ceremony struck a chord and pulled at everyone's heartstrings.
  • tug at the heartstrings

So imagine these feelings were attached to a heartstring.

Examples

  • Durham really knows how to tug at the heartstrings, and the quota is no exception.

    Blog text (11)

  • Well, this is quite the touching scene... really tugs on the heartstrings, eh?

    Fiction book (1999)

  • It will touch your every heartstring.

    Scrooged (1988)

  • In times of natural disaster or other heartstring-tugging moments, it only makes more sense to these people.

    Blog text (1)

  • Every time something comes to mind that pulls at your heartstrings, push it away with the simple statement that you wish.

    Blog text (6)

  • Just don't be afraid to pull on the heartstrings.

    5 Flights Up (2014)

  • In order to truly create a photograph that pulls on your viewers' heartstrings, I believe you need to understand your subjects.

    Blog text (3)

  • Your writing is beyond phenomenal and always tugs at my heartstrings.

    Blog text (8)

  • What Brian has managed to do is combine big laughs with a few moments that tug the heartstrings.

    Blog text (10)

  • Williams' original contribution to the film, "Still Alive," should tug on voters' heartstrings and muster a lot of nostalgic support.

    Blog text (34)

Synonyms

heartstrings
vsheartstring
  • Informal
1 7.0

Deep feelings of love or sympathy that make you feel moved

is the same meaning but used as a singular form

Antonyms

indifference
71 4.6

Lack of interest or concern about something

apathy
43 6.2

A lack of interest or care about things

How Emotional

heartstring
  • Informal
15 5.2
passion
463 2.5
emotion
∞ 1.6
feeling
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

heartstring singular
heartstrings plural

Morphology

heartstring = heart + string (semi-transparent) = heart + string

The components 'heart' and 'string' are clear, but the sense 'deep emotions' is an idiomatic metaphor rather than a literal 'string' in the heart.

Etymology

Heartstring comes from the two simple words heart and string. Imagine your feelings as a guitar string: when something 'tugs' or 'pulls' that string it moves your deepest feelings, so 'heartstrings' means the places that feel most strongly.