close to home

Fig. affecting one personally and intimately. Her remarks were a bit too close to home. I took her review as a personal insult.

having a direct personal effect on you Her novel about a teenager's drug addiction hit a little too close to home for my taste.

Also, where one lives. Affecting one intimately and personally, as in That description of orphans really was too close to home, or The teacher's criticisms of her work got her where she lives. The noun home here means "the heart of something," a usage dating from the late 1800s; the variant was first recorded in 1860. Both of these colloquialisms are sometimes preceded by hit, that is, something is said to hit close to home or hit one where one lives , as in That remark about their marriage hit close to home. Also see too close for comfort (to home).

So as to affect one's feelings or interests: Her comment hit close to home.