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 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
He has since reignited their feud, telling BBC Sport Joshua doesn't have "the heart" to face him.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2023
Armpit didn’t have the heart to tell him he’d seen and heard the whole thing.
From "Small Steps" by Louis Sachar
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.
