intimacy
Americannoun
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intimacies
plural
-
the state of being intimate.
-
a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.
- Synonyms:
- affection, warmth, familiarity, closeness
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a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding of a place, subject, period of history, etc..
an intimacy with Japan.
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an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like.
to allow the intimacy of using first names.
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an amorously familiar act; liberty.
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sexual intercourse.
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the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar.
the intimacy of the room.
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privacy, especially as suitable to the telling of a secret.
in the intimacy of his studio.
noun
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close or warm friendship or understanding; personal relationship
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euphemistic (often plural) sexual relations
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of intimacy
First recorded in 1635–45; intim(ate) 1 + -acy
Explanation
Intimacy is closeness with another person, like the intimacy that develops between friends as you tell one another your life stories and all your secrets and dreams for the future. The noun intimacy comes from the Latin word intimare, which means “impress,” or “make familiar,” which comes from the Latin intimus, meaning “inmost.” Intimacy is a close, family-like connection. There is another kind of intimacy — physical intimacy, which comes from having a sexual relationship, which, one hopes, fosters the other kind of intimacy as well.
Vocabulary lists containing intimacy
Power Suffix: -acy
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Put simply: It’s more difficult to maintain the true intimacy than it’s ever been.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Did taking all that time also create an intimacy that benefited the film?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
They also share the same intimacy coordinator — Lizzy Talbot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Heughan said the introduction of intimacy co-ordinators in later series was a "great protection" for actors.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
He felt it destroyed the intimacy of the Louvre.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
His mind slalomed elegantly through the intimacies of his body, his marriages and his neighborhood, but never through ideology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
The lines that had once been carved in laws and norms are obsolete in the eyes of an algorithm designed to lure you into the performative intimacies of strangers’ lives.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2025
What is it like when you travel with someone and you fart in front of them for the first time, or they see you brushing your teeth and all of these intimacies?
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024
Each has consequences on the longer-term lifespan of whatever intimacies their characters can scrape out for themselves.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2024
He sat down again, facing the front as if he and his girl were alone, talking intimacies.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
