fond

[fond]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fond ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, fond·er, fond·est.

having a liking or affection for (usually followed by of): to be fond of animals.

loving; affectionate: to give someone a fond look.

excessively tender or overindulgent; doting: a fond parent.

cherished with strong or unreasoning feeling: to nourish fond hopes of becoming president.

Archaic. foolish or silly.

Archaic. foolishly credulous or trusting.

Origin of fond

1300–50; Middle English fond, fonned (past participle of fonnen to be foolish, orig., to lose flavor, sour)

Synonyms for fond

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fond ON THESAURUS.COM

2. cherishing. 5. infatuated. 6. gullible.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fonder

sympathetic, affectionate, enamored, sentimental, indulgent, addicted, amorous, devoted, doting, loving, mushy, partial, predisposed, responsive, romantic, tender, warm, adoring, attached, caring

Examples from the Web for fonder

Contemporary Examples of fonder

But I imagine that we got fonder of each other, and he put me up for things.
My Conversation with John Updike
Barbara Probst Solomon
January 29, 2009

Historical Examples of fonder

I am fonder of you than any other man I know, but it is the fondness of long friendship.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
It's fonder she was of Michael, and would any one have thought that?
Riders to the Sea
J. M. Synge
They were not fonder of the lock-up than are most boys who deserve that punishment.
Ester Ried Yet Speaking
Isabella Alden
One young lady declared that she was fonder of music than anything in the world.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon
There is nothing I am fonder of—— Sometimes I tickle the soles of my feet with it.
Abbe Mouret's Transgression
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for fonder

fond

adjective

(postpositive foll by of) predisposed (to); having a liking (for)

loving; tendera fond embrace

indulgent; dotinga fond mother

(of hopes, wishes, etc) cherished but unlikely to be realizedhe had fond hopes of starting his own business

archaic, or dialect

foolish
credulous

Derived Formsfondly, adverbfondness, noun

Word Origin for fond

C14 fonned, from fonnen to be foolish, from fonne a fool

fond

noun

the background of a design, as in lace

obsolete fund; stock

Word Origin for fond

C17: from French, from Latin fundus bottom; see fund

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

Word Origin and History for fonder

fond

adj.

mid-14c., originally "foolish, silly," from past tense of fonnen "to fool, be foolish," perhaps from Middle English fonne "fool" (early 14c.), of uncertain origin; or possibly related to fun.

Meaning evolved by 1590 via "foolishly tender" to "having strong affections for." Another sense of fonne was "to lose savor," which may be the original meaning of the word (e.g. Wyclif: "Gif þe salt be fonnyd it is not worþi," c.1380). Related: Fonder; fondest.