have the heart to
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Edward Johnson III, the chief executive of investing titan Fidelity, sent a board trustee to deliver a message to his daughter he didn’t have the heart to tell her himself.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
"We didn't have the heart to kill it, we ended up having to just put it back in the ocean."
From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025
We didn’t have the heart to tell him.
From Slate • Sep. 20, 2025
"You'll be lucky if you have the heart to stick around as long as I have."
From Salon • Dec. 8, 2024
I didn’t have the heart to tell him I hated onions.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
