Meanings
- pluralplural onlyPeople's private feelings and emotions, now especially those of a local population towards an invading or occupying military force.
Unlike in Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, in Yemen they are trying to implement sharia by winning over the hearts and minds of the people.
2012 April 30, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, “Al-Qaida's wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds”, in The Guardian3 more examples
As experienced political officers, Sir William Macnaghten and Sir Alexander Burnes should have been aware of what was going on in Afghan hearts and minds, but relations between the two men had become badly strained.
1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 211apart from road patrols they worked with the infantry and SAS, patrolled rivers in canoes, and carried out 'hearts & minds' programmes in the villages.
2006, Will Fowler, Britain's Secret War: The Indonesian Confrontation 1962-66, Osprey Publishing, page 15In defense of moderation, he proposed simply stomping out religious radicals. (In American terms: shock and awe, rather than hearts and minds.)
2018 November 3, Hassan Hassan, “The Arab Winter Is Coming”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2018
Origin
From the idea that one needs to persuade people, that is, to win their hearts and change their minds.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
hearts and minds. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hearts%20and%20minds
“hearts and minds.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hearts%20and%20minds. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hearts and minds,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hearts%20and%20minds.
Source: hearts and minds on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.