intimate
1 Americanadjective
-
associated in close personal relations.
an intimate friend.
- Synonyms:
- dear
-
characterized by or involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling.
an intimate greeting.
-
very private; closely personal.
one's intimate affairs.
- Synonyms:
- secret, confidential
-
characterized by or suggesting an atmosphere conducive to privacy or intimacy; warmly cozy.
an intimate little café where we can relax and talk.
-
(of an association, knowledge, understanding, etc.) arising from close personal connection or familiar experience.
-
engaged in or characterized by sexual relations.
too young to handle an intimate relationship.
-
(of women's clothing) worn next to the skin, under street or outer garments.
a store that sells intimate apparel.
-
a more intimate analysis.
- Synonyms:
- profound, thorough, in-depth, exhaustive
-
showing a close union or combination of particles or elements.
an intimate mixture.
-
inmost; deep within.
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of the inmost or essential nature; intrinsic.
the intimate structure of an organism.
-
of, relating to, or existing in the inmost depths of the mind.
intimate beliefs.
noun
-
intimates
plural
adjective
-
characterized by a close or warm personal relationship
an intimate friend
-
deeply personal, private, or secret
-
euphemistic having sexual relations (with)
-
-
having a deep or unusual knowledge (of)
-
(of knowledge) deep; extensive
-
-
having a friendly, warm, or informal atmosphere
an intimate nightclub
-
of or relating to the essential part or nature of something; intrinsic
-
denoting the informal second person of verbs and pronouns in French and other languages
noun
verb
-
to hint; suggest
-
to proclaim; make known
Synonym Usage
See familiar.
See hint.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
intimatesimple
-
intimatessimple
-
have intimatedperfect
-
has intimatedperfect
-
am intimatingprogressive
-
are intimatingprogressive
-
is intimatingprogressive
-
have been intimatingperfect progressive
-
has been intimatingperfect progressive
Past
-
intimatedsimple
-
had intimatedperfect
-
was intimatingprogressive
-
were intimatingprogressive
-
had been intimatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of intimate1
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin intimātus, past participle of intimāre “to announce, make known,” derivative of intimus “inmost, most intimate”; see intima
Origin of intimate2
First recorded in 1530–40; from Late Latin intimātus, past participle of intimāre “to impress (upon), make known,” equivalent to intim(us) “inmost” ( see intima) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Intimate means being close. A small restaurant is called intimate because you're sitting close to the other people, and your best friends are considered your intimate friends. This adjective can mean very friendly, or very personal or private. The original spelling was intime, from French, from Latin intimus "innermost," from intus "within." The related verb intimate means to hint or suggest. Intimate is also a noun meaning a close friend or associate. You might intimate to your intimates that you want to leave a boring party.
Vocabulary lists containing intimate
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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:
Shakespeare gives us an intimate portrait of a man talking himself into doing wrong, over and over, with the audience inside his head the whole way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
If audiences already know the intimate details of how a very real public leak, whistle-blow, or scandal came together, what’s left for them to learn by fictionalizing it all?
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Two sources who said they had intimate knowledge of the operation told the BBC that US authorities stopped digging before the search had been completed, possibly because of security concerns.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Yet tailoring is also one of fashion’s great luxuries — an intimate, almost obsessive process of shaping cloth around the body.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Her manner was fawning again, intimate and unpleasant.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Skillfully collating the accounts of Auden’s intimates, he offers details about the poet’s sexuality, psyche, cratering appearance and deteriorating habits that are painful to contemplate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
These are intentionally not the Kennedy family’s stories or takes from their intimates, but the people who had enough of a professional closeness to be at hand when the assassination happened.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2023
“There is something in a landscape like that which humbles you and intimates to you that there’s something very big out there, and this thing has an awful lot of power,” says Lindahl.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 13, 2023
The study intimates that AI aims to give people what they want—whatever that happens to be.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 2, 2023
But surviving testimony intimates that it was well on its way.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
No matter what was intimated in back-channel talks, the unwillingness of Iran’s regime to put substantive nuclear commitments in the memorandum of understanding is a warning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Asked by BBC Sport if he felt Stokes could resign the captaincy and retire from playing, Key said: "He has not intimated that to me."
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
He intimated he has "14-15" players in mind to start the game but will use the matches versus New Zealand and Costa Rica to decide his first tournament team.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The local police union meanwhile intimated that Smith’s Dec. 8 resignation was timed to duck further questioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
When the cheering had died down, Napoleon, who had remained on his feet, intimated that he too had a few words to say.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
The message is disturbing, intimating that the two men were very close, had a lot in common and shared “a wonderful secret” about how “enigmas never age.”
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2025
However, Ten Hag refused to accept the negative view of the result, while intimating nobody should expect him to produce magical outcomes.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2024
Basket Zaragoza’s general manager, Jose Artigas, wrote in an email to The Times that the 7-foot-3 Mara remained under contract with the team, intimating that he should not be allowed to play elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2023
Asked by other players what she was doing, she shouted, “Look at me, look at me,” intimating she couldn’t do much about it.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
He was intimating that physics at Berkeley might have to continue without Robert Oppenheimer.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
