infatuation
Americannoun
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the state of being infatuated.
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the act of infatuating.
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foolish or all-absorbing passion or an instance of this.
a mere infatuation that will not last.
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the object of a person's infatuation.
When I was a kid, my infatuation was stamp collecting.
noun
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the act of infatuating or state of being infatuated
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foolish or extravagant passion
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an object of foolish or extravagant passion
Usage
What does infatuation mean? Infatuation is the state of being infatuated—being absorbed with an extreme passion for someone or something, especially in a way that makes you foolish or unreasonable about it. Infatuation is often used to refer to the state of someone who has fallen in love with a person without really knowing them. But it can refer to any obsessive or passionate focus, such as on an activity or goal. A person who’s affected this way can be described as infatuated. The word infatuation can also refer to the object of this focus, as in Who’s that you’re staring at—your latest infatuation? Someone or something considered an infatuation can be described as infatuating. Much less commonly, infatuation can refer to the act of infatuating. Example: Your infatuation with him is clouding your judgment.
Etymology
Origin of infatuation
First recorded in 1640–50, infatuation is from the Late Latin word infatuātiōn- (stem of infatuātiō ). See infatuate, -ion
Explanation
Infatuation is falling in love with or becoming extremely interested in someone or something for a short time. If you have an infatuation with a particular singer, you probably listen to her on repeat all day long, at least this week. If something infatuates you, it has caused you to become foolish. We say you have an infatuation when you express a crazy, extreme love of something––a person, a style, a band, anything. Infatuations usually don’t last. Like incredibly intense crushes or the stomach flu, infatuations come on strong and then get forgotten.
Vocabulary lists containing infatuation
Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018) Tribute List
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The Princess Bride
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George Washington's Farewell Address (1796)
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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.
As the leader in animal health, Zoetis once was viewed as a can’t-miss play on Americans’ infatuation with pets.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
Admittedly, Hollywood’s infatuation with the festival has ebbed and flowed over the years, but 2026 seems like a rare outlier.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Marianne is first consumed by her own infatuation, then disconsolate when Willoughby dumps her for an heiress, and finally felled by a fever.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
In this way, Trello is more representative of a tech trend that predates the industry’s infatuation with LLMs.
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2025
For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her earliest teens, and later as a young woman.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
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.
