love-hate relationship

American  

[luhv-heyt ri-ley-shuhn-ship] / ˈlʌvˈheɪt rɪˈleɪ ʃənˌʃɪp /

noun

1. a state of ambivalence in which one feels both love and hate for someone or something.

   Transylvania has something of a love-hate relationship with Dracula tourism.

   The love-hate relationship between directors and actors is entertainingly dissected in this kiss-and-tell memoir from the directing frontlines.

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Etymology

Origin of love-hate relationship

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

This is the notion, propagated by Richard Nixon, that Government and the press have an adversary relationship.

From Time Magazine Archive

But there is no pleasing some people: many ecologists and Earth Day organizers fear that such gestures will destroy a necessary adversary relationship.

From Time Magazine Archive

In their adversary relationship, they act as delicate checks upon one another, capitalizing on the deep American fear of unrestrained power.

From Time Magazine Archive

Says he: "When you have had an adversary relationship with the UAW for 45 years, it's very difficult to change it."

From Time Magazine Archive

You can’t have this kind of shared understanding if writer and reader are in an adversary relationship.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner