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

Synonyms

• tepid
• neutral
• unenthusiastic
• lukewarm

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 teen, bare-chested with unkempt hair under an askew cap, mumbles through a half-hearted apology and refuses to remove his ostentatious sunglasses when asked by the interviewer. —EW.com, 9 July 2025

Anne Hathaway’s Lureen, all rodeo sparkle and small-town ambition, is Jack’s half-hearted refuge; her final scene is a master class in polite denial, her eyes steel behind a frosty Texas drawl. —Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 27 June 2025

Practically every desktop or laptop gaming PC runs Windows by default, despite half-hearted efforts by Apple to turn MacOS into a serious gaming platform. —ArsTechnica, 18 June 2025

This down-to-earth transit is all about rolling up your sleeves and diving into the nitty gritty, leaving no room for half-hearted efforts and procrastination. —Valerie Mesa, People.com, 17 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for half-hearted

• departed
• halfhearted
• imparted
• kindhearted
• lighthearted
• restarted
• uncharted
• warmhearted
• wholehearted
• brokenhearted
• carted
• charted

Kids Definition

halfhearted

adjective

half·​heart·​ed -ˈhärt-əd 

: lacking spirit or interest

halfhearted applause from the audience

halfheartedly adverb

halfheartedness noun