intimacy
Americannoun
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the state of being intimate.
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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.
Intimacy should feel like a connection, it should feel like a very deep form of trust, it should feel safe.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
The south Armagh woman painted Laura in 2022 as part of her Intimacy collection.
From BBC • Oct. 18, 2024
Intimacy coordination is an expanding profession, and part of this process is intended to help create sustainability in this field so the numbers can grow, said a spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2024
Intimacy coordinators are part of that, which is a great change in the industry.
From Salon • Aug. 4, 2024
But there would also be times when I sensed the deepest truth about language and intimacy: Intimacy is not created by a particular language; it is created by intimates.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
