How to Use hit/strike/touch a nerve in a Sentence

hit/strike/touch a nerve

phrase
  • My intention was for each piece to hit a nerve with the person wearing it.
    Miles Socha, WWD, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Something about them and something about that story really hit a nerve.
    K.j. Yossman, Variety, 27 Sep. 2022
  • Austin Adams’ on-field celebration at their expense hit a nerve.
    Tim Britton, The Athletic, 15 Aug. 2024
  • For Opel, who had been fired from education jobs, the Briggs Initiative hit a nerve.
    Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023
  • Tapestry became a whole new kind of pop blockbuster, a confessional statement that hit a nerve with fans, staying on the charts year after year.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 10 July 2024
  • Dating in a picturesque tropical villa seems to always strike a nerve, but emotions will run especially deep for these couples.
    Calie Schepp, EW.com, 10 May 2023
  • His disgust with fictionality hit a nerve among American writers.
    John Ganz, Harper's Magazine, 14 Mar. 2010
  • Following Barbie’s release, Gloria’s monologue hit a nerve with women worldwide.
    Erica Marrison, People.com, 21 Dec. 2024
  • But, regardless of how Winning Time drove it home, the death of Larry's dad hit a nerve in its viewers that could be a sign of where the show is going in the future.
    Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Skipping forward in two 12-year intervals, the film asks questions about love, time and geographic barriers that strike a nerve in all manner of viewers.
    Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2024
  • Yet like Britney’s album, Swag turned out to be a brilliant gimme-more career peak that hit a nerve with the audience, both culturally and creatively.
    Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2025
  • Memories of being confined to their homes and of panic buying that in some areas led to food shortages remain fresh in people’s minds and the idea of a return to Covid-style measures appears to have hit a nerve.
    Chris Lau, CNN, 11 Mar. 2023
  • After the cheery foot massage, though, Behar appeared to hit a nerve with the 53-year-old during a discussion about his potential run for office in his home state of Texas.
    Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Knowing that many feel passionately about the brand, particularly after Westwood’s death, the show on Saturday appeared to touch a nerve.
    Leah Dolan, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024
  • While Kyte Baby’s actions appear to have been legal, its handling of the employee’s request seems to have hit a nerve with its customer base of parents — including some with preemies of their own.
    Maham Javaid, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024
  • Libra September 23-October 22 A criticism that was meant to be constructive can strike a nerve for you.
    Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2023
  • The destruction of a portion of the White House’s East Wing to create the ballroom has hit a nerve among critics, who view it as an overhaul of a historic building for a flashy pet project.
    Tara Suter, The Hill, 22 Oct. 2025
  • His article hit a nerve, and urban activists were inspired to create the Stop de Kindermoord campaign organization.
    Carlton Reid, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Its theme really hit a nerve with audiences, created a real cultural conversation and even resulted in more twins (not depicted in the film) getting reunited in real life.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 19 Dec. 2024
  • The experience of the phantom disc hit a nerve with journalists and the public who too often face what seem like ridiculous hurdles gaining access to government records to better understand what our government is doing.
    Jennifer Peebles, ajc, 18 Mar. 2022
  • The case has hit a nerve in Italy, where chauvinistic attitudes remain deeply rooted at all levels of society, heightening the challenges of addressing violence against women.
    Elisabetta Povoledo, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2023
  • The incident hit a nerve in the city where there has been growing public anger over police violence, including an incident where an off-duty policeman killed a man for allegedly stealing soap from a market, Reuters reported.
    Abel Alvarado, CNN, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Something about the teen drama with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey hit a nerve—especially that dance lift, which has developed a mystique of its own—and has continued to enchant audiences all these years.
    Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, 17 May 2022
  • But the pipes strike a nerve, particularly in Skid Row, home to as many as 1,500 homeless people with substance abuse disorder, and a wide array of drug recovery and prevention groups that serve homeless people throughout the city.
    Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hit/strike/touch a nerve.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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