heartfelt
HART-felt
/ˈhɑːrtfɛlt/
Deeply felt; deeply sincere.
Reserved for emotional expressions of sentiment like sympathy, gratitude, or apology.
The story behind the word. A native Germanic compound formed in early Middle English by joining 'heart' and 'felt', signifying emotions so intense they register physically in the chest.
Word relationships
- profound: Profound stresses depth of thought or impact; heartfelt stresses warmth of emotion.
- unfeigned: Unfeigned emphasizes lack of fake pretense; heartfelt emphasizes warm emotional warmth.
- insincere: Insincere feelings are fabricated without true warmth.
- cold: Cold implies lack of emotion.
Commonly confused with
- hearty: Hearty means vigorous or robust (e.g. hearty meal/laugh), whereas heartfelt means emotionally profound.
Collocations
- heartfelt gratitude
- heartfelt apology
- heartfelt sympathy
- heartfelt plea
Idioms & expressions
- from the bottom of my heart
Example sentences
- "He expressed his heartfelt thanks to the volunteers who saved his town." Public speech
- "Please accept our heartfelt sympathy during this difficult time." Condolence note
Memory hook
HEART + FELT: felt deep inside your physical heart. Emotional truth directly from the core.
When not to use
Do not use for technical, legal, or purely logical arguments.
Fun facts
- Compounds like heartfelt are distinctively Germanic features that survived the Norman French conquest of English.
Explore more words
sincere, sentimental, contrite, sympathetic, poignant, contrition
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