Wear your heart on your sleeve means to show your feelings openly: anyone can tell at once if you're hurt, in love or upset. People say it warmly about someone's honesty, and sometimes with concern, because such a person is easy to hurt. The possessive changes with the person and appears twice: she wears her heart on her sleeve.
When would you say wear your heart on your sleeve?
Write a sentence — we'll check that the expression fits the situation and suggest what to fix.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
wear + my/his/her/their + heart on + my/his/her/their + sleeve
- Tom wears his heart on his sleeve, so we knew at once that the interview had gone badly.
- I've always worn my heart on my sleeve, even at work, and some colleagues find it refreshing.
What changed
First versionMy sister wears her heart on the sleeve, so you always know when she's upset.
RevisionMy sister wears her heart on her sleeve, so you always know when she's upset.
It's tempting to put the before sleeve, as if it were just any sleeve. But with parts of the body and clothes, English usually needs a possessive word: her sleeve, his sleeve. The was replaced with her.
The opposite is keep a stiff upper lip, to hide your feelings even when things are hard: He kept a stiff upper lip at the funeral. And if only someone's face gives their feelings away, people say it was written all over her face.
Your turn
You always know what Anna is feeling: she ___.
Show the answer
wears her heart on her sleeve — Anna's feelings are always visible, so she wears her heart on her sleeve. Have something up your sleeve means to keep a secret plan in reserve, which is about hiding things rather than showing them.
Describe someone you know whose feelings are always on show. Say who it is and when this was especially noticeable.
My cousin wears her heart on her sleeve: at her own wedding she cried through her father's whole speech.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.