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

Author of “Blues for an Alabama Sky,” a 1995 abortion drama still ahead of its time, Cleage is telling a backstage story that’s clearly close to home.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026

There is a prime example close to home.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

I call the inclination to stay close to home “amusement park syndrome,” because people will drive long distances to go on roller-coasters but refuse to drive to another city to see a superior physician.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026

For many of the men running the war, the growing protests hit uncomfortably close to home.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin