single-hearted
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of single-hearted
First recorded in 1570–80
Explanation
If your friend is single-hearted, she's the same person to everyone; she knows what she thinks, means what she says, and puts her whole self into whatever she does. And you are lucky to know her! Single-hearted is similar in meaning to wholehearted: The image it brings to mind is of the person's heart, or center, not being divided into parts. It's not split between conflicting loyalties or motives, not divided between thought and action, or between a secret inner self and the self shown to the world. Single-hearted people are not always second-guessing their ideas and plans — they make a decision and stick to it, set a goal and then go for it with all they've got.
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.
"Through this election we will fully display the might of the single-hearted unity of our army and people," said Hyon Byong-chol, chairman of a preparatory committee for one of the sub-districts in the election.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2014
All his free time and energy Spinoza dedicated with unusual single-hearted devotion to the disinterested development of a philosophy he knew would not be very acceptable to the general or even special philosophic reader.
From The Philosophy of Spinoza by Ratner, Joseph
With all these qualities, natural and acquired, I never saw a more amiable or single-hearted youth.
From The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton Volume I by Barrington, Mrs. Russell
Did he fancy that his subtle lieutenant, the associate of all his deep intrigues, the confidant of his darkest schemes, was suddenly to see in him nothing but magnanimity of soul and single-hearted devotedness?
From Davenport Dunn, Volume 2 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Lever, Charles James
Admirable, too, is the account of his reception by the single-hearted, generous, though eccentric monarch.
From Maria Edgeworth by Zimmern, Helen
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.
