strike a chord

present singular third person strikes a chord · participle present striking a chord · participle past struck a chord · past struck a chord

1. idiomaticTo elicit a significant reaction, especially one which is favorable or sympathetic.

   The photos struck a chord online and quickly went viral.

   2015 June 15, Collin Binkley, “Pet Photo Series Aims to Counter 'Black Dog' Theory”, in www.msn.com, retrieved 27 Sep 2015

   3 more examples

   [T]his brand of ecstatic meditation, shared by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, has struck a chord with record-buyers, and works such as "The Protecting Veil" (1989) for cello and strings have achieved cult status and huge sales on disc.

   1997 September 13, Geoffrey Norris, “Holy minimalist who touched a chord”, in The Telegraph, UK, archived from the original on 28 Sep 2015

   Protests began May 15 and spread to cities across the country, striking a chord with hundreds of thousands fed-up with the wage cuts and tax hikes.

   2011 June 19, Harold Heckle, “Spaniards march to protest high unemployment, political leadership”, in Toronto Star, Canada, archived from the original on 28 Sep 2015

   the young Donaldson sits in his gaming chair, stares into his crappy webcam, and counts from 1 to 100,000. It clearly struck a chord with viewers, even if very few of them made it more than a few minutes in.

   2025 June 3, Mark O’Connell, “‘The Mozart of the attention economy’: why MrBeast is the world’s biggest YouTube star”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025

   Synonyms: touch a chord

2. idiomaticTo convey a feeling or meaning which someone personally internalizes and takes to heart.

   “The movie just struck a chord with him and he started telling us about his story and experience during the Holocaust.”

   2015 August 4, Nicholas Keung, “Holocaust survivors make sure those in need 'not forgotten'”, in Toronto Star, Canada, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025

   Synonyms: hit home