How to Use half-hearted in a Sentence

half-hearted

adjective
  • 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 would the effort to retain him have been worth if the effort was only half-hearted?
    Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2023
  • China and India even fought a short but full-scale war in 1962, which was followed by a half-hearted truce.
    Niharika Sharma, Quartz, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Sony’s support for the first PSVR was pretty half-hearted, after all.
    Jay Peters, The Verge, 23 June 2024
  • There’s been nothing half-hearted about what Kyle Davidson has done.
    Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2023
  • Some, however, voiced praise for Williamson's speech — even if half-hearted.
    Kyle Morris, Fox News, 5 Mar. 2023
  • 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
  • For their part, Mal and May made half-hearted efforts at percussion.
    Jordan Runtagh, Peoplemag, 31 Oct. 2023
  • The chiding between the two plays like a half-hearted version of Taika Waititi snark.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 21 Dec. 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
  • Nobody on screen is giving a half-hearted effort or going through the motions.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 5 Nov. 2023
  • No hybrid-shoe drag or half-hearted attempts to traverse iffy terrain here.
    Isaiah Freeman-Schub, Robb Report, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Their half-hearted attempt to sign him to a long-term deal resulted in them losing him to the upstart Rangers three winters ago, however.
    Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2024
  • There are many shows left before Nov. 5, so get ready for a lot of grunting half-hearted Trump voices and Rudolph making a wide range of perplexed expressions.
    Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 4 Oct. 2024
  • His half-hearted attempt to apologize on a celebrity talk show only digs him in deeper.
    Peter Debruge, Variety, 20 Oct. 2023
  • The status quo of half-hearted diplomacy in the Pacific will not suffice at a time when China is ramping up its presence in the region.
    Charles Edel, Foreign Affairs, 10 Oct. 2024
  • Youngkin had made half-hearted overtures to the former president on social media and in cable news segments.
    Elizabeth Beyer, USA TODAY, 15 June 2024
  • This day, laden with expectation and excitement, deserves more than a half-hearted card or a generic box of chocolates.
    Cristian Esteban, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024
  • Much of what has been built over the past decade has been of the generic greige block type, banal four- or five-story apartments that stretch on endlessly, making half-hearted efforts to disguise their bulk.
    Mark Lamster, Dallas News, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Tim Burton before all those half-hearted Disney remakes.
    Constance Grady, Vox, 6 Sep. 2024
  • Set in the early 2000’s, the series follows Gabby (Sidibe) is a young and aimless woman living with her mom and making half-hearted attempts to become a singer/model and overnight millionaire.
    Breanna Bell, Variety, 26 Apr. 2023
  • Facing a torrent of controversy over his flippant flub, Sliwa gave a half-hearted apology over calling the man a migrant.
    Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2024
  • Ultimately, though, these proposals feel weak and half-hearted.
    Evan Kindley, The New York Review of Books, 16 Feb. 2023
  • Trump later Tuesday appeared to criticize the efforts happening in Washington–in what could be read as a half-hearted endorsement of McCarthy.
    WSJ, 4 Oct. 2023
  • The prior Deadpool films were scuzzy and cobbled together, even as the budget grew; the cameos from other Marvel characters felt half-hearted and perfunctory, inclusions for Deadpool to roll his eyes at, not for fans to cheer over.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 23 July 2024
  • Consumers are more discerning than ever and can easily see through half-hearted or ingenuine statements.
    Jennifer Acree, Forbes, 24 Sep. 2024
  • The comedic elements, even when featuring seasoned comedians like Chris Parnell (who appears as one-eyed vault dweller), often feel more like half-hearted ideas than actual bits.
    Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2024
  • Republicans have listened and have made half-hearted, dishonest pledges to protect those arguments.
    Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Marcello is drawn to Aimée’s Maddalena, who is beautiful and exceptionally rich but also bored and apathetic, and his wooing of her is half-hearted.
    Carmel Dagan, Variety, 18 June 2024
  • However, Twitter, in an apparently half-hearted effort, put together a report of mere 80 pages.
    Mimansa Verma, Quartz, 29 May 2023

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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