bleeding heart

American  

noun

1. any of various plants belonging to the genus Dicentra, of the fumitory family, especially D. spectabilis, a common garden plant having long, one-sided clusters of rose or red heart-shaped flowers.

2. a person who makes an ostentatious or excessive display of pity or concern for others.

---

bleeding heart British  

noun

1. any of several plants of the genus Dicentra , esp the widely cultivated Japanese species D. spectabilis , which has finely divided leaves and heart-shaped nodding pink flowers: family Fumariaceae

2. informal

   1. a person who is excessively softhearted

   2. ( as modifier )

      a bleeding-heart liberal

---

Other Word Forms

• bleeding-heart adjective

Etymology

Origin of bleeding heart

First recorded in 1685–95

Example Sentences

Sardonic, hard-nosed Jen and flighty, bleeding heart Judy are returning after more than two years, so fans may need a binge-watch refresher on their high jinks.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2022

At the start of the new century, Garrison landed the role of a lifetime: Hedwig, the German-born genderqueer rock goddess who is the beating, bleeding heart of the glam-rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.”

From Seattle Times • Jul. 30, 2022

As “Valentine” so poignantly illustrates, the surest route out of a terrible feeling is straight through its bleeding heart.

From New York Times • Nov. 5, 2021

“She was a symbol. She was mocked. She was looked upon by a lot of people as a prototypical liberal and bleeding heart, and she is that unapologetically.”

From Washington Post • May 11, 2021

Here they learn the rest of the lesson begun in those soft houses with porch swings and pots of bleeding heart: how to behave.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison