heart-searching
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of heart-searching
First recorded in 1640–50; heart ( def. ) + searching ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the aftermath there will be much heart-searching and even recriminations that this massive stockpile of ammonium nitrate was left unattended in such a sensitive place as the docks.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 5, 2020
When Elizabeth, played with exquisite subtlety by Clare Foy, learns that her pledge was based on faulty advice served up by her lugubrious private secretary, Tommy Lascelles, she is full of consternation and hesitant heart-searching.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2016
Her low, earnest, heart-searching voice seemed to move many in that audience.
From The Angel of the Gila: A Tale of Arizona by Cora Marsland
They are gods to whom doubtful philosophers can pray, with all a philosopher's due caution, as to so many radiant and heart-searching hypotheses.
From Five Stages of Greek Religion by Gilbert Murray
The result was hours of heart-searching for those entrusted with the feeding of the Faithful.
From Mrs. Bindle Some Incidents from the Domestic Life of the Bindles by Hebert Jenkins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
