close to home

Idioms  

1. Also, where one lives. Affecting one intimately and personally, as in That description of orphans really was too close to home, or The teacher's criticisms of her work got her where she lives. The noun home here means “the heart of something,” a usage dating from the late 1800s; the variant was first recorded in 1860. Both of these colloquialisms are sometimes preceded by hit, that is, something is said to, as in That remark about their marriage hit close to home. Also see too close for comfort (to home).

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Example Sentences

For Ramos, a lab technician trainee in Connecticut, the cinematic parallels hit close to home.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026

Helou said Blumenfield’s motion completes the loop by keeping food waste close to home, creating more local composting and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transporting waste outside of the city.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026

The complication is that one child was given a property close to home, while another child was given a cabin several states away.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026

There is a prime example close to home.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

Prior to 1970, inner-city workers with relatively little formal education could find industrial employment close to home.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander