as in tepid
showing little or no interest or enthusiasm
a halfhearted attempt to clean the house before the arrival of the in-laws
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of halfhearted
Serena looked down, heaved a sigh and hooked her knee around the pole before mustering up a halfhearted spin.
—
Raven Brunner,
PEOPLE,
30 June 2026
In a game that Switzerland dominated for the majority of the time, only some halfhearted chants by the Swiss superfans in the second deck cut through.
—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
13 June 2026
And those problems are magnified in the slack middle section of this 160-minute film, as the hunters make discoveries of their own in the forest, unnecessary subplots and aliens multiply, and there are some halfhearted attempts at giving them a thin backstory.
—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
17 May 2026
Through all these threads, The Audacity throws itself headlong at some of tech’s biggest hot-button topics, including privacy, AI and, in an oddly halfhearted subplot involving JoAnne’s son, Everett Bliunck’s Orson, the manosphere, with an eye as cold as its characters.
—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2026
Alex Bregman was the one who got away, the All-Star third baseman the club tried to sign in spring training with a halfhearted contract proposal that would be rejected.
—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
11 Jan. 2026
The closest Alex and Tess get to a custody battle is a halfhearted chat about who gets the armoire.
—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
12 Dec. 2025
Musical theater loves a go-getter, and halfhearted irony just can’t stand up to this much zazz.
—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
He was used to students skipping the readings or making a halfhearted attempt.
—
Kelly Meyerhofer,
jsonline.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Raven Brunner,
PEOPLE,
30 June 2026
In a game that Switzerland dominated for the majority of the time, only some halfhearted chants by the Swiss superfans in the second deck cut through.
—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
13 June 2026
And those problems are magnified in the slack middle section of this 160-minute film, as the hunters make discoveries of their own in the forest, unnecessary subplots and aliens multiply, and there are some halfhearted attempts at giving them a thin backstory.
—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
17 May 2026
Through all these threads, The Audacity throws itself headlong at some of tech’s biggest hot-button topics, including privacy, AI and, in an oddly halfhearted subplot involving JoAnne’s son, Everett Bliunck’s Orson, the manosphere, with an eye as cold as its characters.
—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2026
Alex Bregman was the one who got away, the All-Star third baseman the club tried to sign in spring training with a halfhearted contract proposal that would be rejected.
—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
11 Jan. 2026
The closest Alex and Tess get to a custody battle is a halfhearted chat about who gets the armoire.
—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
12 Dec. 2025
Musical theater loves a go-getter, and halfhearted irony just can’t stand up to this much zazz.
—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
He was used to students skipping the readings or making a halfhearted attempt.
—
Kelly Meyerhofer,
jsonline.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for halfhearted
Adjective
-
Rotten Tomatoes Reception to Netflix’s rendition of The Last Airbender has always been tepid.
-
The film’s reviews range from negative to tepid praise (averaging a 58 percent Rotten Tomatoes score).
Adjective
-
The electric blue shade adds such a fun pop of color to a summer wardrobe, instantly brightening up basics like white jeans, denim shorts, or neutral trousers.
-
And perhaps most importantly, hempcrete can be carbon neutral or even carbon negative, depending on its composition.
Adjective
-
Some previous supporters remain unenthusiastic about another run for president.
-
Ultimately the question is whether Hardy, Glasser and Butterworth can patch things up especially since Hardy was already unenthusiastic about returning for Season 3 due to his conflict with Butterworth.
Adjective
-
Tracking services told Deadline as summer kicked off that Supergirl, along with Amazon MGM Studios’ bomb Masters of the Universe and Universal/Amblin’s Disclosure Day, were key event films that were extremely lukewarm in their word of mouth.
-
If stains remain, mix a solution of lukewarm water and oxygen bleach powder following the label directions.
Cite this Entry
“Halfhearted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/halfhearted. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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