Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Jump To:
  • Absence makes the heart grow fonder
    Absence makes the heart grow fonder
    Persons, places, or things become dearer to us when they are absent.
  • absence makes the heart grow fonder
    absence makes the heart grow fonder
    Separation intensifies love, as in After a year in another country she accepted his proposal, so I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder, or, used ironically, The boss leaves earlier every day; oh well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Although versions of this saying date from Roman times, it only became popular after Thomas Haynes Bayly used it as the last line of a song in The Isle of Beauty (1850). The opposite sentiment is expressed by familiarity breeds contempt.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Cultural  
  1. Persons, places, or things become dearer to us when they are absent.


absence makes the heart grow fonder Idioms  
  1. Separation intensifies love, as in After a year in another country she accepted his proposal, so I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder, or, used ironically, The boss leaves earlier every day; oh well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Although versions of this saying date from Roman times, it only became popular after Thomas Haynes Bayly used it as the last line of a song in The Isle of Beauty (1850). The opposite sentiment is expressed by familiarity breeds contempt.


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:

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that.

From New York Times ● Feb. 10, 2018

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," goes a classic one-liner, "of someone else."

From Time Magazine Archive

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Isle of Beauty! fare thee well."

From A Love Story by A Bushman

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say.

From In the Midst of Alarms by Robert Barr

He felt that "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," so when Mrs. Maroney greeted him so heartily he was overjoyed.

From The Expressman and the Detective by Allan Pinkerton

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, boy are Mariners fans’ hearts fond right now.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2022

Lexi, who hasn’t seen Mikey in a while, challenges the idea that absence makes the heart grow fonder, ordering him off the property.

From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021

The most relevant maxim at the moment, though, is absence makes the heart grow fonder.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2021

“It’s really cool to be back. What do they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder? Quite cheesy, but no, really, really cool,” said the 40-year-old Englishman, who is now ranked 14th in the world.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 17, 2018

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.

From A Damsel in Distress by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training