mixed feelings

mixed feelings pl (plural only)

1. (set phrase) Sentiments or opinions regarding a person, situation, or other matter which are conflicted and cause perplexity or confusion.
   • 1850, Herman Melville, White Jacket, ch. 44:

     I, for one, regarded this master-at-arms with mixed feelings of detestation, pity, admiration, and something opposed to enmity.

   • 1903, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes, ch. 2:

     [A]ll Sabbath observances, like a Scottish accent, strike in me mixed feelings, grateful and the reverse.

   • 1910, P. G. Wodehouse, Psmith in the City, ch. 3:

     Arriving at Paddington, Mike stood on the platform, waiting for his box to emerge from the luggage-van, with mixed feelings of gloom and excitement.

   • 1948 November 29, "The Press: The Rivals," Time (retrieved 29 Dec 2017):

     Last week Madison (pop. 67,500) learned, with mixed feelings, that it would get a morning paper and lose an afternoon one.

   • 2013 May 8, Steve Smith, "Music Review: On Piano, a Point of View," New York Times (retrieved 29 Dec 2017):

     I had mixed feelings about the Sonata in F (Op. 54) — a departure from the printed program, noted in an insert — in which a deftly managed, elegantly characterized first movement was wedded to a tumultuous but unfocused Allegretto.

• mixed emotions