set one's heart on

verb

To desire with intensity and commitment, to earnestly long for.

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Meanings

verbset one's heart on (third-person singular simple present sets one's heart on, present participle setting one's heart on, simple past and past participle set one's heart on)

present singular third person sets one's heart on · participle present setting one's heart on · alternative have one's heart set on · alternative have one's heart set upon · alternative set one's heart upon

  1. idiomatictransitiveTo desire with intensity and commitment, to earnestly long for.

    Americans can do whatever they set their hearts on.

    2008 January 15, “Mitt Romney’s Michigan Primary Speech”, in New York Times, retrieved 26 May 2013
    3 more examples

    With all the willful eagerness of a child she set her heart on that visit, and from morning till night she would talk with her little boys of the journey to what seemed to her the brightest, most sacred spot on earth, next to her present home.

    1856, T. S. Arthur, “A True Tale of Life”, in The Wedding Guest

    [H]e always found it hard to give up anything he had set his heart on, no matter how trivial.

    1876, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 5, in Rose in Bloom

    Roberts set his heart on a national basketball championship.

    1972 April 3, “Religion: Heal Thy Enemy”, in Time

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
want

Translations

Māori manako, ohia
  • manakoto long for
  • ohiato long for
Cite this entry
APA

set one's heart on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20heart%20on

MLA

“set one's heart on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20heart%20on. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “set one's heart on,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20one's%20heart%20on.

Source: set one's heart on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.