heart

1 the capacity for feeling for another's unhappiness or misfortune those who refuse to contribute to the fund for the famine victims must have no heart Synonyms bigheartedness, charity, commiseration, compassion, feeling, good-heartedness, humanity, kindheartedness, kindliness, kindness, largeheartedness, mercy, pity, ruth, softheartedness, sympathy, warmheartedness Related Words feelings, responsiveness, sensibility, sensitivity; affection, love, regard; affinity, empathy, rapport; altruism, benevolence, benignancy, benignity, generosity, goodwill, humaneness, humanism, humanitarianism, philanthropy Near Antonyms callousness, coldness, disinterest, indifference, unconcern; cruelty, harshness; animosity, antipathy, dislike, hatred, hostility Antonyms coldheartedness, hard-heartedness, inhumanity, inhumanness, mercilessness, pitilessness

2 a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest the heart of the village economy was the outdoor market Synonyms axis, base, capital, central, core, cynosure, epicenter, eye, focus, ground zero, center, hub, locus, mecca, navel, nerve center, nexus, nucleus, omphalos, seatRelated Words headquarters; happy hunting ground, hive, hotbed, hot spot, playground, playland; kernel, nub, pith; deep, thick; essence, quintessence, soul; attraction, lodestone (also loadstone), magnet, polestar

3 strength of mind to carry on in spite of danger never lost heart while she was lost in the woods Synonyms bottle [British slang], bravery, courageousness, daring, daringness, dauntlessness, doughtiness, fearlessness, gallantry, greatheartedness, guts, gutsiness, hardihood, courage, heroism, intestinal fortitude, intrepidity, intrepidness, moxie, nerve, pecker [chiefly British], prowess, stoutness, valor, virtueRelated Words backbone, fiber, fortitude, grit, gumption, mettle, pluck, pluckiness, spunk, temper; determination, perseverance, resolution; endurance, stamina, stomach, tenacity; audacity, boldness, brazenness, cheek, cojones [slang], effrontery, gall, temerityNear Antonyms cold feet, faintheartedness, fearfulness, mousiness, timidity, timorousness; feebleness, softness, weakness; impotence, ineffectualness; hesitation, indecision, indecisiveness, irresolutionAntonyms cowardice, cowardliness, cravenness, dastardliness, poltroonery, spinelessness

4 the central part or aspect of something under consideration at the heart of the problem is the school's outmoded computer system avoided any small talk and got right to the heart of the matter Synonyms bottom line, bull's-eye, centerpiece, core, essence, gist, crux, kernel, keynote, meat, meat and potatoes, net, nub, nubbin, nucleus, pith, pivot, point, root, sumRelated Words course, direction, drift, tenor; body, content, substance; hypothesis, proposition, purport, subject, theme, thesis

5 the seat of one's deepest thoughts and emotions deep down in her heart, she knew he was telling the truth Synonyms belly, blood, bone(s), bosom, breast, gut, core, heartstrings, inner space, inside, quick, soulRelated Words conscience, mind