fondness
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being fond.
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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.
Clutton-Brock has joked that his most important discovery was meerkats’ fondness for hard-boiled egg.
From Slate • May 10, 2026
Today many of us are as likely to be disorientated by his fondness for folklore and myth, his assumptions about religion and social order, and his immersion in the conventions of Elizabethan and Jacobean theater.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Auerbach, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley, said he remembers with fondness attending the 1984 L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 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
“You two idiots,” said Azareen, and Lazlo felt a curious twinge of pride, to be called an idiot by her, with what might have been the tiniest edge of fondness.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
