to tug at someone's heartstrings
1
5.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
conmover
- Her tale of overcoming obstacles tugged at his heartstrings, leaving him feeling deeply moved.
Examples
-
It really made my day to read it and tugged at my heartstrings that you are so happy and have so much determination. :)
Blog text (30) -
That adorable bundle of fur with puppy-dog eyes and the promise to be your best friend forever is surely going to tug at anyone's heartstrings.
Blog text (10) -
This event always tugs at my heartstrings as I look at how far my students have come in one short year.
Academic text (2006) -
Your writing is beyond phenomenal and always tugs at my heartstrings.
Blog text (8) -
It actually tugged at my heartstrings.
Blog text (3) -
I spoke with the officer today who created this fund for him, and she stated that in her 12 years of law enforcement, no person has tugged at her heartstrings the way M did the day of this tragedy.
Blog text (27) -
We are introduced to the Empress's young daughter early in the game, which tugs at our heartstrings, providing a vulnerable object to feel protective of throughout the game and to associate with her mother and the pathos of losing her.
Blog text (1) -
That's a pretty great start to making your campaign successful—be game-changing, have a grand vision, and tug at people's heartstrings.
Blog text (29) -
The emotional story of the stray dog really tugged at my heartstrings and made me want to help.
-
The film's heartbreaking ending tugs at the heartstrings of anyone who has loved and lost.
Synonyms
95
4.1
To make someone feel very sad
76
2.3
To make someone feel sad
45
4.9
To make someone feel sad or upset
34
3.4
To make someone very sad because of love or disappointment
9
4.9
Make someone feel sad or worried
3
3.7
Make someone feel strong emotion or sympathy
2
5.8
To make a person feel a strong emotion
Make people feel deep sadness or pity
Antonyms
How Moving
- Informal
34
3.4
- Informal
1
5.3
680
2.9
668
3.4
- Specialized
14
9.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
tug + at + someone's + heartstring
The meaning 'to cause strong feelings of sadness or sympathy' is directly inferable from 'tug' (to pull) combined with 'someone's heartstrings' (a metaphorical source of strong feelings); if a learner knows these constituent meanings they can compose them to reach the idiomatic sense. The physical-pulling→emotional-response metaphor is common cross-linguistically and follows a predictable mapping, making the expression immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the parts.
Etymology
The idiom tug at someone's heartstrings may come from the image of a heart with thin heartstrings, like strings on a small instrument. A gentle tug on those strings makes the heart show strong feeling, so the phrase means 'to cause strong feelings of sadness or sympathy'.