heart-to-heart

[ hahrt-tuh-hahrt ]

adjective

1. frank; sincere:

   We had a heart-to-heart talk about his poor attendance.

noun

1. Informal. a frank talk, especially between two persons.

heart-to-heart

adjective

1. (esp of a conversation or discussion) concerned with personal problems or intimate feelings

noun

1. an intimate conversation or discussion

Word History and Origins

Origin of heart-to-heart¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Idioms and Phrases

Candidly, 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]

Example Sentences

And when the sun rose, she shifted gears to film dramatic heart-to-heart talks between Jamie and Ben in one or two takes.

From Los Angeles Times

"Last year, we spoke heart-to-heart with the community and now they must leave and go back to their villages," he added.

From BBC

“Zoe and I had a heart-to-heart and I said, ‘We can adapt,’” King said, recalling how they decided to create a decentralized model for the company that would allow her to live with her family.

From New York Times

“I strongly believe in heart-to-heart contact, eye-to-eye contact, and not through a camera or something,” he said.

From Seattle Times

He's been in a lot of great movies and a lot of not-so-great movies, and I was having a heart-to-heart with him about that process.

From Salon

Related Words

• chatter
• conversation
• gossip