Suffix · forms adjectives
having a specified disposition, spirit, or emotional character
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
-hearted forms compound adjectives that describe a person's fundamental nature or emotional disposition. The heart, in English, is the metaphorical center of character and feeling: warmhearted, coldhearted, brokenhearted, wholehearted. These compounds are deeply embedded in the language — some, like "brokenhearted," appear across poetry, song, and literature for centuries.
-hearted
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"Brokenhearted" is an adjective: "She was brokenhearted." A "broken heart" is a noun phrase: "He had a broken heart." You cannot say "She was broken heart" or "She had a brokenhearted." The compound adjective and the noun phrase are not interchangeable.
Most -hearted compounds can be written as one word (brokenhearted, wholehearted, warmhearted) or hyphenated (broken-hearted, whole-hearted, warm-hearted). Dictionaries vary. Whichever you choose, be consistent within a single piece of writing.
A trick to remember it
-hearted compounds carry cultural weight in English. "Wholehearted" means not just "complete" but specifically committed with no reservations. "Fainthearted" is not just "tired" but specifically lacking courage. "Not for the fainthearted" is a set phrase meaning "only for the brave." When you use -hearted compounds, you tap into centuries of English metaphor in which the heart represents character, courage, and emotion.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"The journey was not for the fainthearted." What does this mean?
Exercise 3 · Form the word
The suffix -hearted having a specified disposition, spirit, or emotional character In Spanish it usually maps to de corazón / con el corazón.
"broken" becomes "brokenhearted". It is a typical example of the -hearted suffix.
carrying a heavy load of; burdened or weighed down with
Forms adjectives describing something persistently dominated or plagued by something negative: guilt-ridden, debt-ridden, crime-ridden, anxiety-ridden, corruption-ridden.
Forms adjectives describing someone or something severely affected by an emotion, condition, or calamity: poverty-stricken, grief-stricken, panic-stricken, awe-stricken, drought-stricken.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.