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strike the right note

Idioms  

  1. Say or do what is especially appropriate, as in She struck the right note when she complimented the new parents on their baby. This expression alludes to playing the correct note on an instrument.

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 base has to strike the right note between creamy and icy.

From Washington Post • Jul. 10, 2019

It takes perfect pitch to strike the right note.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 1, 2015

Shanahan, with his clandestine ministry-of-information routine, doesn't always strike the right note, and McNabb has struggled in the offense, but whatever their issues, McNabb isn't tossing his uniform into the stands like Young.

From Washington Post • Nov. 24, 2010

He doesn't seem able to make a success, he can't somehow strike the right note.

From The Sea-Gull by Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich

"Yes, by talking nonsense; I don't seem to strike the right note."

From Look Back on Happiness by Wiking, Paula

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.