How to Use half-hearted in a Sentence

half-hearted

adjective
  • This time the effort to line up looked half-hearted.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 23 Nov. 2025
  • On the other side of the gym, the group had moved on to half-hearted dumbbell lunges.
    — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 9 Apr. 2026
  • Did anyone laugh, or was did someone give a half-hearted chuckle to be nice?
    — Anne Sugar, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Sometimes that means some half-hearted efforts against lesser teams.
    — Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 31 May 2025
  • Some, however, voiced praise for Williamson's speech — even if half-hearted.
    — Kyle Morris, Fox News, 5 Mar. 2023
  • What would the effort to retain him have been worth if the effort was only half-hearted?
    — Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2023
  • No hybrid-shoe drag or half-hearted attempts to traverse iffy terrain here.
    — Isaiah Freeman-Schub, Robb Report, 7 Dec. 2023
  • There’s been nothing half-hearted about what Kyle Davidson has done.
    — Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2023
  • Their skating looked slow next to the Lightning, their puck battles were half-hearted and so on.
    — Aaron Portzline, The Athletic, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Nobody on screen is giving a half-hearted effort or going through the motions.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2023
  • The arena goes icily silent, punctuated by some half-hearted boos as the clock drains down.
    — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 1 May 2025
  • But each effort is half-hearted and poorly formed outside of Yeoh herself.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
  • For their part, Mal and May made half-hearted efforts at percussion.
    — Jordan Runtagh, Peoplemag, 31 Oct. 2023
  • How can Ukraine win this fight with indecisive and half-hearted allies?
    — Dan Perry, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Not a half-hearted attempt at relaxation while staying tethered to work.
    — Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
  • His half-hearted attempt to apologize on a celebrity talk show only digs him in deeper.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 20 Oct. 2023
  • But Dutton Ranch’s crime components feel half-hearted at first.
    — Noel Murray, Vulture, 15 May 2026
  • As Ballew went into a euro-step, Bedgood’s half-hearted jogs back up the court slowed to a halt.
    — Luca Evans, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2023
  • What once was a half-hearted all-star football game few cared to watch is now a 7-on-7flag football game even fewer care about.
    — Greg Cote february 3, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2026
  • The Cardinal cannot botch the hire or make a half-hearted commitment to football.
    — Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2025
  • In the case of settler violence, such efforts appear to be sporadic and half-hearted.
    — Gershom Gorenberg, The Atlantic, 19 Dec. 2024
  • This half-hearted interest in naturalism hurts more than helps.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025
  • His recent half-hearted statement of support for Hogan in his Senate race doesn’t change any of this.
    — Frank Donatelli, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2024
  • Trump’s longtime, but perhaps half-hearted, bid to purchase Greenland was rebuffed in his first term.
    — Ramsey Touchberry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Lindholm’s half-hearted clearing attempt during a penalty kill for too many men on the ice led to Doan’s net-front goal.
    — Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Republicans said the fines should be clearer to avoid half-hearted enforcement.
    — Jordan Smith, IndyStar, 28 Aug. 2025
  • As punishment to their men for this half-hearted date, Alexa and Tayler spend their entire date talking about their boyfriends.
    — Charlotte Walsh, Vulture, 12 Mar. 2025
  • Ultimately, though, these proposals feel weak and half-hearted.
    — Evan Kindley, The New York Review of Books, 16 Feb. 2023
  • And Denny, who gets out of prison and back into Peggy’s life over her half-hearted objections.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2023
  • Don’t settle for half-hearted connections… not when the universe is offering you soul-deep mirrors.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 30 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'half-hearted.' 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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