fond
1 Americanadjective
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having a liking or affection for (usually followed byof ).
to be fond of animals.
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loving; affectionate.
to give someone a fond look.
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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:
Looking back now, whatever embarrassment Peters feels about those dance videos has been overshadowed by his fond memories of playing for the Bananas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
But while the family have fond memories of their mum, they feel anger towards "lots of different parties" that Scatchard was not stopped before he met Kelly.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
"I am proud to be Tajik first, and Muslim second," he is fond of repeating.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
She still holds fond memories of that heady achievement, including chatting with her idol, Roger Federer, at the Wimbledon Champions Ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Beowulf shrugged but made no argument, for he too had grown fond of Nutsawoo.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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 Waters, W. G., Mrs.
This edition follows the manuscript of the National Library, Paris: Ancien fonds Colbert lat., 5152A.
From Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Houghton, Louise Seymour
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
Some day, said our colleague, the infernal genius who directed those intrigues and le bailleur de fonds will be known.
From Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men by Grant, Robert
I wish our fonds were well oot of them, and in yird and stane, which is a constansie.
From The Ayrshire Legatees, or, the Pringle family by Galt, John
“I think there’s an argument that says absence makes the heart grow fonder with some of these. We’ll see.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
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
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
"My fondest memories are of him travelling on the buses wherever he went."
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
In your fondest dreams, what would you do if you could join the animals?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
"It was a council-run site, so a lot of my youth was here, and I've got nothing but the fondest memories of Skegness."
From BBC ● May 25, 2025
It’s one of the earliest, fondest memories I have.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2025
“Women are always fondest of their last babies.”
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
