Dictionary

after one's own heart en · ADP

Pronunciation

• /ˈæftɚ wʌnz oʊn ˈhɑɹt/ (General-American)
• /ˈæftə wʌnz əʊn ˈhɑːt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɑːf-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From after (“in imitation of; following”) + one’s + own + heart (“disposition; personality”), a reference to 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22 in the Bible: see the 1526 and 1611 quotations.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) Of a person: having the same disposition, feelings, or opinions as oneself.
   • […] I turn with great complacency to the fourth class of my readers, who are men, or, if possible, women, after my own heart; grave, philosophical and investigating; fond of analyzing characters, of taking a start from first causes, and so hunting a nation down, through all the mazes of innovation and improvement. 1809, Diedrich Knickerbocker [pseudonym; Washington Irving], chapter III, in A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Inskeep & Bradford, […], →OCLC, book III, pages 141–142:
   • I found the father of Thuvia a man after my own heart, and that night saw the beginning of a friendship which has grown until it is second only to that which obtains between Tars Tarkas, the green Jeddak of Thark, and myself. 1913 December – 1914 March, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “New Allies”, in The Warlord of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published September 1919, →OCLC, page 133:
   • “I am impressed, young Frank,” began the master criminal. “Breaking into my house in the dead of night. You are a boy after my own heart. You need to come and live here with me and your mother. I could be the father you never had. I could train you up. Teach you everything I know. You could become a master criminal like me. One day all this could be yours.” 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:
   • Professor Cusins: you are a young man after my own heart. 1905, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Major Barbara”, in John Bull’s Other Island and Major Barbara: Also How He Lied to Her Husband, London: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1907, →OCLC, Act II, page 234:
   • Look, Pisistratus, man after my own heart, see the gleam of bronze and gold—of amber, ivory, and silver. Everything is so splendid that it is like seeing the palace of Olympian Jove. I am lost in admiration. 1900, Homer, “Book IV”, in Samuel Butler, transl., The Odyssey: Rendered into English Prose for the Use of Those who Cannot Read the Original, London: A[rthur] C. Fifield, →OCLC, page 41:
   • [H]e [God] ſet vppe David to be their kynge⸝ to whome he gave witnes⸝ ſaynge: I have founde David the ſonne of Jeſſe⸝ a man after myne awne hert⸝ he ſhall fullfyll all my will. 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Actes off the Apostles xiij:[22], folio clxxiij, verso:
   • But now thy [Saul's] kingdome ſhall not continue: the Lord hath ſought him a man after his owne heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to bee captaine ouer his people, becauſe thou haſt not kept that which the Lord hath commanded thee. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 13:14, column 2:
2. (idiomatic) Of a situation or thing: according to, or appealing to, one's own desire, liking, or taste.
   • During these wanderings I once hit on a vegetarian restaurant in Farringdon Street. The sight of it filled me with the same joy that a child feels on getting a thing after its own heart. […] This was my first hearty meal since my arrival in England. 1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, “My Choice”, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume I, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC, part I, page 119:
   • In this particular party, small as it was, culture, learning, art, arms, landed interest and hereditary sway were properly personified. It was, indeed, a representative gathering after the Talberts' own hearts. 1885, Hugh Conway [pseudonym; Frederick John Fargus], “Gastronomic and Erotic”, in A Family Affair […], volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 244–245:

Relateds

of one mind

Synonyms

after one's own soul · after one's own soul · after one's heart · after one's heart

Translations (3)

pl w czyimś guście (of a situation or thing: according to, or appealing to, one’s own desire, liking, or taste) · pl bratni (of a person: having the same disposition, feelings, or opinions as oneself) · nl naar zijn hart (of a situation or thing: according to, or appealing to, one’s own desire, liking, or taste)