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AT HEART
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
In reality
Example:
she is very kind at heart
Synonyms:
at bottom; at heart; deep down; in spite of appearance; inside
Classified under:
Context examples:
Oh! he is black at heart, hollow and black!
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
I have another person's interest at present so much at heart, that I cannot think any longer about Frank Churchill.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
I had at heart a strange and anxious thought.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
When the man awoke and found that he had been sleeping, he was grieved at heart, and said, “She has no doubt been here and driven away again, and it is now too late for me to save her.”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Taking a holistic view of a person’s health – such as looking at heart disease and depression together – enables us to understand how factors like traumatic experiences and the environment impact on both our physical and mental health.
(Inflammation links heart disease and depression, University of Cambridge)
"If you want some more, bring the suit," had been the reply that sent Martin out of the stuffy little den, so desperate at heart as to reflect it in his face and touch his sister to pity.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Recollecting himself, however, he added, That is, I mean to say—your friends are all truly anxious to see you well settled; Fanny particularly, for she has your interest very much at heart, I assure you.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
It made me sick at heart to see, and my hand recoils from writing it.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The Count smiled, and as his lips ran back over his gums, the long, sharp, canine teeth showed out strangely; he answered:—Because your peasant is at heart a coward and a fool!
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Thinking, as I did, that he was speaking of our own old Queen Charlotte, I could make no meaning out of this; but my father told me afterwards that both Nelson and Lady Hamilton had conceived an extraordinary affection for the Queen of Naples, and that it was the interests of her little kingdom which he had so strenuously at heart.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
