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Showing results for strike a chord. Search instead for strike+a+chord.
Synonyms

strike a chord

Idioms  

  1. Trigger a feeling or memory, as in That poem strikes a chord in all those touched by the Holocaust. This term alludes to striking the strings or keys of a musical instrument. [First half of 1800s] Also see strike the right note.

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.

The freedom of full-time travel often seems to strike a chord with people who feel hemmed in by jobs and mortgages, family commitments and responsibilities.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s national “Fighting Oligarchy” tour seemed to strike a chord, bringing out upward of 30,000 attendees at each stop.

From Slate • Oct. 23, 2025

The horse’s struggles strike a chord with Japan’s fondness for the determined underdog.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2025

"Opera and classical music as a whole seemed to hit a kind of dead end with music that was too academic and not able to strike a chord emotionally or intellectually," he told Salon.

From Salon • Oct. 6, 2024

He was a newcomer, a black man in what was historically a white man’s business, surfacing from obscurity with a weird name and odd backstory, hoping to strike a chord with the common Democrat.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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.