heartstring
Deep emotional bond
Heartstrings are the deepest feelings of love or compassion.
The word appears almost exclusively in the plural and with a possessive: The documentary tugged at my heartstrings.
To tug, pull, or pluck at someone's heartstrings is to evoke strong emotion, especially sympathy or tender sentiment.
The image suggests invisible cords connecting the heart to what it loves.
Intense prolonged craving
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
memory · bygone · recollection · childhood · bittersweet · sentimental · keepsake · heirloom
Piercing emotional quality
- pathosPity-evoking quality
- tearjerkerEmotionally manipulative entertainment
- maudlinExcessively tearful sentiment
- schmaltzPoultry fat or sentimentality
touching · moving · weepy · emotional · sappy · lachrymose · melodrama · saccharine
yearning
Intense prolonged craving
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- wistfulnessTender sadness for absence
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
homesickness · memory · bygone · recollection · childhood · bittersweet · sentimental · keepsake · heirloom · remembrance
poignancy
Piercing emotional quality
- pathosPity-evoking quality
- tearjerkerEmotionally manipulative entertainment
- maudlinExcessively tearful sentiment
schmaltz · touching · moving · weepy · emotional · sappy · lachrymose · melodrama · saccharine · overwrought
empathy
Sharing another's emotions
- sympathyCompassionate understanding of others
- pitySympathy for misfortune
- mercyCompassion toward offenders
kindness · caring · charity · humanity · benevolence · moved · touched · softened · generosity · goodwill
tug
Short forceful pull
manipulate · guilt · pressure · appeal · persuade · sway · coerce · calculated · scheme · emotional blackmail
- body part wordsAdam's apple, anklebone, armpit, backbone, belly button
- love spellslove spell, love potion, love charm, binding spell, philter
heartstringcoldheartedness
Utter lack of empathy
emotional detachment · indifference · callousness · hardheartedness · unfeelingness
heartstringpure reason
Intellect independent of experience
unsentimental · dispassion · cynicism · rationality · objectivity