close to home
Hitting a nerve
Close to home describes something that affects you personally or touches on matters you care deeply about.
A comment hits close to home when it strikes a nerve or relates directly to your own experience: His remarks about absent fathers hit close to home.
The phrase suggests uncomfortable relevance—truth that's hard to dismiss because it applies to you.
Evoking gentle emotion
- movingEmotionally affecting
- affectingEmotionally moving
- emotionalShowing strong feelings
- heartfeltDeeply and sincerely meant
bittersweet · nostalgic · evocative · heart-rending · tearjerking · melancholic · wistful · mournful
Closely personal or private
- privateRestricted to certain parties
- autobiographicalConcerning one's own life
- confessionalBooth for admitting sins
- innermostMost deeply internal
heartfelt · sensitive · deep-seated · individual · subjective · inward · idiosyncratic · unshared
Of this area
- nearbyAt small distance
- domesticOf the home
- neighborhoodResidential area nearby
- everydayOccurring each day
recognizable · well-known · comfortable · proximate · accessible · commonplace · routine · customary
Deeply vibrating with sound
- empatheticFeeling what others feel
- familiarKnown from experience
- recognizableAble to be identified
- universalAffecting all equally
identifiable · understandable · accessible · relevant · pertinent · applicable · meaningful · significant
Out in open
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- sensitiveEasily affected emotionally
- rawIn original state
- defensiveProtective or easily threatened
squirming · awkward · confronting · unsettling · painful · triggering · probing · invasive
touching
Evoking gentle emotion
heartfelt · bittersweet · nostalgic · evocative · heart-rending · tearjerking · melancholic · wistful · mournful · sentimental
intimate
Closely personal or private
- privateRestricted to certain parties
- autobiographicalConcerning one's own life
- confessionalBooth for admitting sins
innermost · heartfelt · sensitive · deep-seated · individual · subjective · inward · idiosyncratic · unshared · exclusive
local
Of this area
- nearbyAt small distance
- domesticOf the home
- neighborhoodResidential area nearby
everyday · recognizable · well-known · comfortable · proximate · accessible · commonplace · routine · customary · traditional
resonant
Deeply vibrating with sound
- empatheticFeeling what others feel
- familiarKnown from experience
- recognizableAble to be identified
universal · identifiable · understandable · accessible · relevant · pertinent · applicable · meaningful · significant · parallel
exposed
Out in open
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- sensitiveEasily affected emotionally
- rawIn original state
defensive · squirming · awkward · confronting · unsettling · painful · triggering · probing · invasive · discomforting
close to homeimpersonal
Lacking warmth or individuality
detached · distant · removed · irrelevant · abstract
close to homefar from home
far away · distant · remote · far afield · overseas
close to homeabstract
Condensed version of text
theoretical · hypothetical · academic · ivory tower · out of touch
home, close, closed, closing, closer, enclose, disclose, closest, enclosure