caress
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to touch, pat, or stroke gently to show affection.
-
to touch or seem to touch lightly.
The breeze caressed the trees.
-
to treat with favor, kindness, etc.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
caresssimple
-
caressessimple
-
have caressedperfect
-
has caressedperfect
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am caressingprogressive
-
are caressingprogressive
-
is caressingprogressive
-
have been caressingperfect progressive
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has been caressingperfect progressive
Past
-
caressedsimple
-
had caressedperfect
-
was caressingprogressive
-
were caressingprogressive
-
had been caressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of caress
First recorded in 1605–15; from French caresse, from Italian carezza, from unattested Vulgar Latin caritia, equivalent to Latin cār(us) “dear” + -itia suffix of abstract nouns; cf. charity
Explanation
To caress someone or something means to stroke it gently in a loving or affectionate manner. Don't you love to caress the soft fur of your pet hamster or cat? The word caress can be either a verb or a noun, both of which refer primarily to the affectionate petting or stroking of another. You can also use caress to mean any sort of kind or loving action, and it can be accomplished by things other than people. The soft wind can caress your skin as you walk towards the ocean’s edge. And who doesn't love the caress of smooth silk sheets against your skin when you get into bed?!
Vocabulary lists containing caress
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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The Secret Life of Bees
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"The Moustache" and "Who We Really Are"
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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:
Instead of the full-throated, Pavarotti-style belt that’s common in this repertoire, Mr. Pati makes a familiar song like “O sole mio” as gentle as a caress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2025
The boy and the mom are beloved, but it’s their own face that each is shown to caress.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
Longley said: "The first thing you notice here is the silence, and the caress of the sea air."
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2024
“I, too, need Jesus to caress me,” Francis said.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2023
After a minute’s silence, he looked down at Amy, who sat on the cricket at his feet, and said, with a caress of the shining hair...
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
In Ain Ebel's cemetery, Jallad caresses her son's tombstone, surrounded by women trying to comfort her.
From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026
We see Ella Fitzgerald at New York’s Basin Street East in the mid-1950s; her eyes closed, she gently leans into a microphone that she caresses with both hands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
She picks up a doll with red hair and caresses it gently.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2023
A sun-dappled hand softly caresses a reclining loved one’s temple in one photo, while in another, a couple’s arms are draped in a gentle embrace.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2023
The sand and its caresses, the conch and its melody would be there forever as well.
From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat
Two girls, their faces streaked with tears, gently caressed the face of a dead man, wrapped in a sheet with a floral motif, and then hugged each other tightly.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2025
During a performance at an Atlanta event in September, the “Ride With Me” rapper and his now-wife playfully caressed her stomach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2024
"She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her," Atsuko Sato wrote on her blog, thanking Kabosu's fans.
From BBC ● May 24, 2024
During those early days, according to Dass’s medical record, she caressed her daughter, was caring and attentive and seemed to be adjusting well to her new role.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
“I thought it best,” corrected Luna, and what seemed like a thousand hands caressed her cheeks and the top of her head and her shoulders.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
Jareth is an illusionist as beguiling and seductive as he is sinister, caressing bubbles and gravity-defiant glass spheres with liquid grace.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
Her prose is exact and exquisite, as when describing Clare: “The soft white face, the bright hair, the disturbing scarlet mouth, the dreaming eyes, the caressing smile, the whole torturing loveliness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
The video, which was partly recorded inside the prison, shows him caressing a fighting cockerel and freely chatting to fellow inmates.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2025
With the cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, he shows them off beautifully, caressing them in light so that they look lit from within.
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
I dust it carefully every morning, for to do so gives me the pleasant feeling that I’m caressing you as in the old days.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
