bring oneself to

verb

To force oneself to do something (usually unpleasant); to gather the courage to do something.

“He could not bring himself to ask her.”

Similar
have the heart
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Meanings

verbbring oneself to (third-person singular simple present brings oneself to, present participle bringing oneself to, simple past and past participle brought oneself to)

present singular third person brings oneself to · participle present bringing oneself to · participle past brought oneself to · past brought oneself to

  1. To force oneself to do something (usually unpleasant); to gather the courage to do something.

    He could not bring himself to ask her.

    1 more example

    I know what to do, but will I be able to bring myself to do it?

    Synonyms: have the heart

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo force oneself to do something (usually unpleasant); to gather the courage to do something.

Similar
have the heart

Translations

Danish få sig selv til
  • få sig selv tilforce oneself to do something
Norwegian Bokmål få seg til
  • få seg tilforce oneself to do something
Cite this entry
APA

bring oneself to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bring%20oneself%20to

MLA

“bring oneself to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bring%20oneself%20to. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bring oneself to,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bring%20oneself%20to.

Source: bring oneself to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.