Meaning & use
this hits home
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrasefigurative
This makes you feel something strongly because it relates to your own life or experience.
Grammar: Used as a complete comment or clause; 'this' can be replaced by 'that', 'it', or a noun phrase.
Patterns
- something hits home
- this hits home for someone
- this really hits home
When she talked about losing her job, it really hit home for me because I went through the same thing.
The documentary about climate change hits home when you see the flooded towns.
His speech about family hit home with everyone in the room.
Common combinations
- really hit home
- The warning about debt really hit home after I checked my bank account.
- hit home for someone
- The story about the refugee family hit home for many listeners.
- hit close to home
- The news about the factory closing hit close to home for the whole town.
- hit home with someone
- Her advice about saving money hit home with the students.
Synonyms and how they differ
- strike a chord
- Strike a chord means to create an emotional response, often because it reminds you of something; it is slightly more formal than hit home.
- resonate
- Resonate means to have a strong emotional effect and is more formal; hit home is more direct and personal.
- ring true
- Ring true means to seem true or genuine, not necessarily emotional; hit home focuses on personal emotional impact.
Opposites
Commonly confused: this hits home or home truth?
this hits home vs home truth
A home truth is an unpleasant fact about yourself that you are told; hit home is the feeling that something is personally relevant.
Practice
The movie about losing a parent ___ for anyone who has experienced that. Which option correctly completes the sentence?
Choose one answer.
The fixed expression is 'hit home', meaning to have a strong personal emotional effect. 'Hits a home' and 'hits the home' are not idiomatic, and 'hits home run' is a mix-up with the baseball term 'home run'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “this hits home”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.