have one's heart in the right place

verb

To have good intentions.

“My brother doesn't always do the right thing, but he has his heart in the right place.”

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Meanings

verbhave one's heart in the right place (third-person singular simple present has one's heart in the right place, present participle having one's heart in the right place, simple past and past participle had one's heart in the right place)

present singular third person has one's heart in the right place · participle present having one's heart in the right place · participle past had one's heart in the right place · past had one's heart in the right place

  1. idiomaticTo have good intentions.

    My brother doesn't always do the right thing, but he has his heart in the right place.

    3 more examples

    Mr. Cherry has thought proper to place most of his compliments to England in the mouth of an Irishman, a facetious gentleman, full of generosity and blunders, “with a head that may err, but a heart in the right place"

    1823, Andrew Cherry, The Travellers

    No one amongst them, as far as I know, with his heart in the right place, stood up and asked in council, What is to become of the poor who cannot pay these high rents?

    1835, Thomas Chalmers, On the Evils which the Established Church in Edinburgh Has Already Suffered […]

    "Why Jack, old fellow, I wronged you!" I exclaimed,—"your heart is in the right place after all."

    1895, Marie Corelli, chapter I, in The Sorrows of Satan: or The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, published 1896, →OCLC, page 9

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
come from a good place

Translations

Finnish sydän on paikallaan
  • sydän on paikallaanto have good intentions, to be well-intentioned
French avoir bon fond, avoir bon cœur
  • avoir bon fondto have good intentions, to be well-intentioned
  • avoir bon cœurto have good intentions, to be well-intentioned
Hungarian helyén van a szíve
  • helyén van a szíveto have good intentions, to be well-intentioned
Polish mieć dobre intencje
  • mieć dobre intencjeto have good intentions, to be well-intentioned
Russian име́ть до́брые наме́рения
  • име́ть до́брые наме́рения (imétʹ dóbryje namérenija)to have good intentions, to be well-intentioned
Cite this entry
APA

have one's heart in the right place. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20one's%20heart%20in%20the%20right%20place

MLA

“have one's heart in the right place.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20one's%20heart%20in%20the%20right%20place. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “have one's heart in the right place,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/have%20one's%20heart%20in%20the%20right%20place.

Source: have one's heart in the right place on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.