From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishclose to homeclose to homea) EMBARRASSEDif a remark or criticism is close to home, it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is likely to be true His comments struck unpleasantly close to home. b) PERSONALLY/YOURSELFif something unpleasant happens close to home, you are directly affected by it It’s one thing seeing riots on TV, but when they happen so close to home it’s a different matter. → close
Examples from the Corpus
close to home• And interestingly, the pictures these two picked are close to home.• For a third it might be a school close to home.• It is important, however, to have a source of money close to home.• Some commute long distances while others work close to home.• Yet familiarity may be blinding us to equal intelligence expressed by animals far closer to home.• She says it was too close to home and it could easily have been them.• Even closer to home is the enchanting beauty of the Craigendarroch Country Estate.• Local artisans, working close to home, often met the essential needs of the nearby population. 