deep inside

comparative more deep inside · superlative most deep inside

1. at heart, deep down

   Besides, sometimes, deep inside, she longed to be twelve again.

   2008, Susan May Warren, Finding Stefanie, Tyndale, →ISBN, page 61

   2 more examples

   But deep inside he knew the truth was he longed for one last great adventure.

   1998, Jon Land, Dead Simple, Forge, →ISBN, page 156

   He's been short-tempered and snappy for as long as I can remember. But for what it's worth—deep inside—he's a good man.

   2010, Judy Duarte, His, Hers and…Theirs?, Silhouette Books, →ISBN, page 45