fondness
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being fond.
-
tenderness or affection.
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doting affection.
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a liking or weakness for something.
He has a fondness for sweets.
- Synonyms:
- preference, partiality, predilection
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Archaic. complacent credulity; foolishness.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fondness
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see origin at fond 1, -ness
Explanation
Fondness is love or affection for someone. Your fondness for your funny Spanish teacher might be part of what inspires you to work hard in his class. When you have a fondness for a person, you feel warm or tender toward them. Your sister's fondness for young children probably makes her a great babysitter. You can also have a fondness for a thing: your friend's fondness for expensive shoes could cause her constant financial difficulty, and your fondness for cupcakes might influence you to learn how to bake.
Vocabulary lists containing fondness
Love Letter Words for Valentine's Day
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The River
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Novel Study: The Jungle Book, "The White Seal"–"Parade Song of the Camp Animals"
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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.
“It was a way of broadcasting that nobody here in Nicaragua had. The people of my generation remember him with fondness and still value the work he did.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
Clutton-Brock has joked that his most important discovery was meerkats’ fondness for hard-boiled egg.
From Slate • May 10, 2026
Maybe this is why I’ve always had a fondness for the fast-food chain and its cheeseburger.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
The Times followed up with a report on Hovater’s fondness for “Seinfeld,” his wedding registry at Target, four cats and Midwestern manners that would, as reporter Richard Fausset wrote, “please anyone’s mother.”
From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026
Despite our fondness for it, it is fundamentally a poison for unprotected organic matter.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
