cupboard love
a personal attachment that appears to be motivated by love but in fact stems from the hope of gain.
Origin of cupboard love
1Other words from cupboard love
- cupboard lover, noun
Words Nearby cupboard love
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cupboard love in a sentence
There's cupboard-love, at any rate; but never mind, let's go and listen to this opera.
Sarah's School Friend | May BaldwinThe commissariat at home is too good to justify any suspicion of this ignoble sort of cupboard love.
Curiosities of Civilization | Andrew WynterHe has a cupboard love for Sarah, but I think that his affection for me is simon-pure.
Mavis of Green Hill | Faith Baldwin"It's cupboard love as brings you out so sharp," he said, his voice resounding in the cold darkness.
The Rainbow | D. H. (David Herbert) LawrencePerhaps my enthusiasm for California sounds a little like cupboard love.
The Smiling Hill-Top | Julia M. Sloane
British Dictionary definitions for cupboard love
a show of love inspired only by some selfish or greedy motive
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse