intimacy

American  

[in-tuh-muh-see] / ˈɪn tə mə si /

noun

• intimacies
  plural

1. the state of being intimate.

2. a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.

   Synonyms:

   affection, warmth, familiarity, closeness

3. a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding of a place, subject, period of history, etc..

   an intimacy with Japan.

4. an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like.

   to allow the intimacy of using first names.

5. an amorously familiar act; liberty.

6. sexual intercourse.

7. the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar.

   the intimacy of the room.

8. privacy, especially as suitable to the telling of a secret.

   in the intimacy of his studio.

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intimacy British  

/ ˈɪntɪməsɪ /

noun

1. close or warm friendship or understanding; personal relationship

2. euphemistic (often plural) sexual relations

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• intimacies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of intimacy

First recorded in 1635–45; intim(ate) ¹ + -acy

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intimacy intimacies

Some of that same intimacy returned when he played a sublime encore, a movement from Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 5, with string players from the orchestra.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

Each is interviewed separately, looking directly at us to burnish the intimacy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Nitish Pahwa: We’re in this moment where people aren’t just engaging in emotional intimacy with chatbots, but doing so knowing that it’s fake, and that the LLM is gameable.

From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026

Simon says that broken sleep, caused by a partner's snoring, can lead to irritability, arguments, and - if it is decided that sleeping in separate rooms is needed - reduced intimacy.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

That’s not because Peter objects to people or finds the notion of intimacy repulsive.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

At moments, poignant domestic intimacies such as cooking and bathing threaten to break the detente and let in some emotion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026

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

In a mega two-hour, dual album, released in two parts as "The Tortured Poets Department" and "The Anthology," Swift pens 31 different heartbreaks, triumphs and intimacies — tortured poems if you will.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2024

He wanted to tell her something about himself, too, wanted to exchange small kernels of intimacies with her.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Related Words

• affection
• confidence
• confidentiality
• familiarity
• friendship
• understanding

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