wholehearted
/ˌhəʊlˈhɑː(ɹ)t.əd/adjective
wholehearted is an adjective meaning “Showing enthusiastic and unconditional commitment; having no reservations” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled W-H-O-L-E-H-E-A-R-T-E-D and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 5 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does wholehearted mean?
adjective
- 1
Showing enthusiastic and unconditional commitment; having no reservations.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce wholehearted?
- UK /ˌhəʊlˈhɑː(ɹ)t.əd/
Wholehearted has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-wholehearted.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wholehearted
- more wholehearted comparative
- most wholehearted superlative
- whole-hearted
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is wholehearted?
Wholehearted appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with wholehearted
Also written: whole-hearted (one word or two).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Wholehearted in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense showing enthusiastic and unconditional commitment:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | qui vient du cœur, épanoui, sans réserve |
| German | herzlichst, mit ganzem Herzen, rückhaltlos, vollen Herzens, von ganzem Herzen |
| Spanish | absoluto, incondicional, sin reservas |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does wholehearted come from?
From whole + hearted. First appears before 1628 in the publications of John Preston, a clergyman in the Church of England.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).