idiom · neutral
take it to heart
UK/teɪk ɪt tə hɑːt/US/teɪk ɪt tə hɑrt/take·IT·to·HEART
speakingtask2
to be very upset or affected by something that someone says or does
Examples
“Don't take it to heart — the criticism was meant to help, not to hurt you.”
“She takes negatives to heart and worries for days.”
“He took the referee's comment to heart and trained harder.”
Band 8 sentence
“Criticism can be useful if you don't take it to heart but instead use it to improve your work.”
Collocations
- take it to heart + when/if
- don't take it to heart
Word family
take it to heart verb phrasetakes it to heart verb phrase (3rd sg)took it to heart verb phrase (past)
Common mistakes
Don't take to heart this comment.→Don't take this comment to heart.
She takes his words in heart.→She takes his words to heart.
Say it for a higher band
5be upset→6be hurt by it→7+take it to heart
Synonyms
be upset
be hurt
Easily confused
brush it off
“She decided to brush it off and move on.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Emotions
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