half-hearted
adjective
half-heart·ed
ˈhaf-ˈhär-təd 
ˈhäf-
variants
or halfhearted
: lacking heart, spirit, or interest
a half-hearted effort
halfhearted applause
half-heartedly
adverb
or halfheartedly
half-heartedness
noun
or halfheartedness
Examples of half-hearted in a Sentence
a halfhearted attempt to clean the house before the arrival of the in-laws
Recent Examples on the Web
The responses, submitted by a fairly arbitrary group of women, range from profound to half-hearted.
—
Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2025
Nobody outside Pittsburgh can even give you a half-hearted suggestion that anyone else is even close, and nobody in Pittsburgh wants to.
—Levi Weaver, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
There's something so deeply bizarre and offensive about watching the president's Cabinet, congressional Republicans and his backers on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley put up these ridiculous, half-hearted defenses of the tariff policy.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
The former Pitch Perfect star then listed three half-hearted compliments about the Chiefs and the team’s famously raucous fanbase.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for half-hearted
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Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2025
Nobody outside Pittsburgh can even give you a half-hearted suggestion that anyone else is even close, and nobody in Pittsburgh wants to.
—Levi Weaver, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
There's something so deeply bizarre and offensive about watching the president's Cabinet, congressional Republicans and his backers on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley put up these ridiculous, half-hearted defenses of the tariff policy.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
The former Pitch Perfect star then listed three half-hearted compliments about the Chiefs and the team’s famously raucous fanbase.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for half-hearted
Cite this Entry
“Half-hearted.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-hearted. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
halfhearted
adjective
half·heart·ed
-ˈhärt-əd
: lacking spirit or interest
halfhearted applause from the audience
halfheartedly
adverb
halfheartedness
noun
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