Meaning & use
heavy heart
Last updated
UK/ˌhevi ˈhɑːt/
US/ˌhevi ˈhɑrt/
Meaning
nounsingular
A feeling of deep sadness or sorrow, often when you must do something you do not want to do.
Grammar: Almost always preceded by with a: she left with a heavy heart.
Patterns
- with a heavy heart
- a heavy heart over something
With a heavy heart, he sold the family farm.
She said goodbye with a heavy heart, knowing she might never return.
I write to you with a heavy heart to share some sad news.
Common combinations
- with a heavy heart
- We announce, with a heavy heart, that the shop will close.
- carry a heavy heart
- He carried a heavy heart for months after the funeral.
- leave with a heavy heart
- The soldiers left with a heavy heart.
- my heart is heavy
- My heart is heavy tonight because my friend is moving away.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sorrow
- Sorrow names the feeling itself, while heavy heart is an image that often goes with reluctance about an action.
- grief
- Grief is stronger and usually follows a death, whereas a heavy heart can come from lesser sadness or regret.
- sadness
- Sadness is plain and neutral, while heavy heart sounds more solemn or literary.
Opposites
light heart
Word family
- heavy-hearted adjective
- feeling sad and weighed down
- heart noun
- the centre of emotion
- lighthearted adjective
- cheerful and free of worry
- heavily adverb
- in a heavy way
Commonly confused: heavy heart or heavy heart (medical)?
heavy heart vs heavy heart (medical)
In medicine, an enlarged heart is a condition, whereas the idiom heavy heart is only about feelings.
Practice
She resigned ___, because she loved the team.
Choose one answer.
The fixed idiom is with a heavy heart. The other prepositions and missing article do not form the expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “heavy heart”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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