heart-to-heart
adjective
frank; sincere.
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heart-to-heart
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heart to heart
heart to heartCandidly, 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]
heart-to-heart
American
[hahrt-tuh-hahrt]
/ ˈhɑrt təˌhɑrt /
adjective
noun
heart-to-heart
British
adjective
noun
heart to heart
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of heart-to-heart
First recorded in 1865–70
Vocabulary lists containing heart-to-heart
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“We had a heart-to-heart about how we can’t afford what we originally planned,” said Morgan, a part-time teacher whose husband is a military veteran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
“We watched film, had a heart-to-heart talk and a shoot around today but that’s it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
Six months after losing his "kind, caring, clever and beautiful" partner to sudden adult death syndrome, he says remembering that "heart-to-heart in the car... makes me feel so much better".
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2025
In a heart-to-heart talk with your adult child; acknowledge the pain, hardship or misunderstanding that resulted from your actions or decisions; and ask for forgiveness.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 2, 2025
Anyway, our little heart-to-heart was at an end and I came away feeling I hadn’t done what I’d set out to do—that I’d somehow let Ruth down.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Maybe Novak’s point is that, face to face and heart to heart, we don’t really fight as much as our social media avatars and elected representatives do.
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2022
I think people are starved for conversation that is heart to heart, person to person.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2022
Their heart to heart is at the center of "Chiantishire," the penultimate Season 3 episode written by series creator Jesse Armstrong.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2021
"I found it quite difficult to get through, to really have a heart to heart with people on the doorsteps."
From BBC ● May 4, 2021
"From Louisville. Our white girlhood was passed together there. Our beautiful white----" "Did you give Nick a little heart to heart talk on the veranda?" demanded Tom suddenly.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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.
