Dictionary

heart of hearts en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) One's innermost private feelings.
   • Yet the darling sin is there in our heart of hearts; we hug it close—we hide it from every human eye. But in the still night-watches it comes forth like a serpent out of his hole, and rears its venomous crest, and stings us with the horror of our guilt. 1876, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “At His Door”, in Joshua Haggard’s Daughter […], volume III, London: John Maxwell and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 180–181:
   • She was grieved, and bitterly sorry for the man who was hurt so much. But still, in her heart of hearts, where the love should have burned, there was a blank. 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter V, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
   • With the "Constance," which in his heart of hearts he loathed, departed the last remnant of Cheyne's millionairedom, and he gave himself up to an energetic idleness. 1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, chapter X, in “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, →OCLC:

Forms

Translations (6)

fr for intérieur (one’s innermost private feelings) · pl w skrytości serca (one’s innermost private feelings) · it cuor proprio (one’s innermost private feelings) · sh dno srca (one’s innermost private feelings) · es en su fuero interno (one’s innermost private feelings) · fi syvällä sisimmässään (one’s innermost private feelings)