halfhearted

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌhæfˈhɑrtɪd/ UK /ˌhɑːfˈhɑːtɪd/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
showing little enthusiasm or effort

He made a halfhearted attempt to tidy the room before guests arrived.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · showing little enthusiasm... lukewarm unenthusiastic apathetic perfunctory tepid indifferent listless

Opposites

wholeheartedenthusiastic eager zealous earnest

Word family

Derived forms halfheartedlyhalfheartedness

Etymology

A compound of half (Old English healf) and hearted (from heart, Old English heorte), meaning having only half of one's heart in something.

heorte Old English healf Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# halfhearted

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˌhæfˈhɑrtɪd
**IPA (UK):** ˌhɑːfˈhɑːtɪd

## Meanings
1. showing little enthusiasm or effort

## Examples
- He made a halfhearted attempt to tidy the room before guests arrived.

## Synonyms
- lukewarm
- unenthusiastic
- apathetic
- perfunctory
- tepid
- indifferent
- listless

## Antonyms
- wholehearted
- enthusiastic
- eager
- zealous
- earnest

## Derived Forms
- halfheartedly
- halfheartedness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: heorte
- Root: healf

## Etymology
A compound of half (Old English healf) and hearted (from heart, Old English heorte), meaning having only half of one's heart in something.

## AI Etymology
Halfhearted is a compound of half (Old English healf) and hearted (from heart, Old English heorte), meaning having only half of one's heart in something. Important recorded forms include heorte (Old English) and healf (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers showing little enthusiasm or effort. The wider family includes derived forms such as halfheartedly and halfheartedness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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