heart-to-heart

[ hahrt-tuh-hahrt ]

See synonyms for: heart-to-heart heart-to-hearts on Thesaurus.com

adjective

frank; sincere: We had a heart-to-heart talk about his poor attendance.

noun

Informal. a frank talk, especially between two persons.

Origin of heart-to-heart

First recorded in 1865–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use heart-to-heart in a sentence

Reynolds wrote an agony column, “Susan Chester heart-to-heart Letters,” for the Brooklyn Eagle.
American Dreams, 1933: Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West | Nathaniel Rich | April 29, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Thought I'd wait until you were done and we could have a little heart-to-heart behind your closed door.
Dr. Scarpetta Heads to Psych Ward | Daily Beast Promotions | February 23, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
They had been hanging over the low balustrade, engaged in a heart-to-heart talk with two pretty Quartier brunettes.
The Real Latin Quarter | F. Berkeley Smith
They had a heart-to-heart talk presently, with the result that Mark Twain was free.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow Paine
The longing for a real heart-to-heart friendship had been on one side only; that was the first, and most petrifying revelation.
Flaming June | Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

I've realised it since a heart-to-heart talk old Con forced me to have with him a fortnight before we sailed.
Vision House | C. N. Williamson
He must go to Monteverde, give him a good, heart-to-heart lecture, so that he would be good and not make her suffer.
Woman Triumphant | Vicente Blasco Ibaez

British Dictionary definitions for heart-to-heart

heart-to-heart

adjective

(esp of a conversation or discussion) concerned with personal problems or intimate feelings

noun

an intimate conversation or discussion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with heart-to-heart

heart-to-heart

Candidly, sincerely, as in We need to talk heart to heart about her coming marriage. This expression is nearly always applied to a conversation of some kind. [Mid-1900s]

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