Meaning & use
tender heart
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Meanings
nouncountable
A gentle, caring nature that feels sympathy easily and is quick to forgive.
Grammar: Countable when talking about a person's nature: 'She has a tender heart.'
Patterns
- have a tender heart
- a person with a tender heart
He looks strict, but he has a tender heart and cries at sad films.
She has a tender heart, so she always takes in stray cats.
You need a tender heart to work with children who have had a hard start.
nouncountableliterary
A person who is easily moved to pity or affection.
Grammar: Used of a person, often in a slightly literary or affectionate way: 'He's a tender heart.'
Patterns
- be a tender heart
- a real tender heart
My grandfather was a tender heart who could never say no to anyone.
Don't be such a tender heart — not every sad story needs your money.
Word forms
| plural | tender hearts |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a tender heart
- You have to have a tender heart to do this job well.
- a kind and tender heart
- Everyone remembers her kind and tender heart.
- a tender heart for someone
- He has a tender heart for lost animals.
- hide a tender heart
- She hides a tender heart behind a lot of jokes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- soft heart
- Very close in meaning, but 'soft heart' often suggests being too easily persuaded, while 'tender heart' sounds warmer and more admiring.
- compassion
- This is the feeling itself, not the person's nature, so say 'She showed great compassion', not 'She is a compassion'.
- kindness
- This refers to kind behavior or a kind quality in general; 'tender heart' focuses on the emotional, sympathetic side of a person.
Opposites
Word family
- tender-hearted adjective
- Easily moved by other people's suffering; the usual adjective form of the phrase.
- tender-heartedness noun
- The quality of being easily moved to sympathy.
- tenderly adverb
- In a gentle, loving way.
- tenderness noun
- Gentle, loving care or feeling.
Commonly confused: tender heart or tenderhearted?
tender heart vs tenderhearted
This one-word adjective means the same as 'having a tender heart'; the two-word form 'tender heart' is the noun phrase.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
A tender heart means a gentle, sympathetic nature, so crying at sad films fits. Option 1 gives the opposite behavior, option 2 uses 'tender heart' as an adjective, and option 3 is missing the article 'a'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tender heart”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.