fond
1 Americanadjective
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fonder,
comparative
-
fondest
superlative
-
having a liking or affection for (usually followed byof ).
to be fond of animals.
-
loving; affectionate.
to give someone a fond look.
-
excessively tender or overindulgent; doting.
a fond parent.
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cherished with strong or unreasoning feeling.
to nourish fond hopes of becoming president.
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Archaic. foolish or silly.
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Archaic. foolishly credulous or trusting.
- Synonyms:
- gullible
adjective
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predisposed (to); having a liking (for)
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loving; tender
a fond embrace
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indulgent; doting
a fond mother
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(of hopes, wishes, etc) cherished but unlikely to be realized
he had fond hopes of starting his own business
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archaic
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foolish
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credulous
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noun
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the background of a design, as in lace
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obsolete fund; stock
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of fond1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English fond, fonned “foolish, silly” (past participle of fonnen “to be foolish”
Origin of fond2
First recorded in 1655–65; from French; see origin at fund
Explanation
To be fond of something is to like it. Sports fans are fond of sports. Oddly, this adjective can also mean foolish and silly. We're all fond of some things and people: the things and people we like. Being fond can mean anything from liking something a little ("I'm fond of that band") to be extremely, almost absurdly interested in something ("He's a little too fond of football"). This word sometimes implies foolishness and absurdity: almost like you love something so much that you've lost your mind. But usually being fond is a good thing: it just means you enjoy something.
Vocabulary lists containing fond
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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We Were Liars
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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:
Add in the public’s aversion to barring businesses from doing anything, along with the fond feelings many Americans have for the words “private” and “equity,” and it’s easy to feel hopeless.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
She has fond childhood memories of playing with a color-changing Hello Kitty plush toy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
With fond memories of living in the condo complex in his 20s, the 43-year-old public employee decided to buy a two-bedroom unit, sight unseen, for $260,000 in July 2024.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Despite the initial despondency of the home fans, the volume was turned back up when the American pair were given a fond farewell - with everyone left wondering what the future holds for them both.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“It may be vain and wrong to say it, but—I’m afraid—Laurie is getting too fond of me.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Tak care neaw one fonds that chilt, Dolly, if they break in.
From The Lancashire Witches A Romance of Pendle Forest by William Harrison Ainsworth
Nat., fonds latin, No. 4270, fol. 138-9, 213.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Henry Charles Lea
Ingredients: Veal, sweetbread, calf's brains, ox palates, mushrooms, fonds d'artichauds, cocks' combs, eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs.
From The Cook's Decameron: a study in taste, containing over two hundred recipes for Italian dishes by Mrs. W. G. Waters
The fonds are the transverse valleys just mentioned—the channels, for the most part, of small water-courses which discharge themselves into the sea.
From The Galaxy Vol. 23, No. 1 by Various
I really believe," Mrs. Westgate continued, "that the most charming girl in the world is a Boston superstructure upon a New York fonds; or perhaps a New York superstructure upon a Boston fonds.
From An International Episode by Henry James
Those fonder of Hawthorne the magical realist will have plenty to appreciate as well, not least of which that Donatello’s true ancestry—whether human or faun—is never definitively established.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
Growing fonder and fonder of Maude, Harold shares with her that when he isn’t attending funerals for fun, he likes to go to demolition sites and scrap yards.
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2026
You can sit this one out, and see if absence makes the sisters grow fonder of each other.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 27, 2025
The cliche that absence makes the heart grow fonder is apt here, in more ways than one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
His voice softens when he talks about her—he is no longer the toughened leader of this compound, but an old man, reflecting on some fonder past.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
If eating a bowl of Frosted Flakes in the company of Tony the Tiger is one of your fondest childhood memories, then you already know everything you need to know about the breakfast-cereal business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Some of Debbie Israel’s fondest memories as a young girl are the times she spent with her father at synagogue praying on the Sabbath.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Sir Billy has now released four limited edition works under his Born On A Rainy Day series, recalling some of the fondest memories from his life.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
It’s one of the earliest, fondest memories I have.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2025
Some of my fondest memories as a youngster were from my times at church.
From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry
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.
