intimacy

American  

[in-tuh-muh-see] / ˈɪn tə mə si /

noun

plural

intimacies

1. the state of being intimate.

2. a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.

   Synonyms:

   affection, warmth, familiarity, closeness

3. a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding of a place, subject, period of history, etc..

   an intimacy with Japan.

4. an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like.

   to allow the intimacy of using first names.

5. an amorously familiar act; liberty.

6. sexual intercourse.

7. the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar.

   the intimacy of the room.

8. privacy, especially as suitable to the telling of a secret.

   in the intimacy of his studio.

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intimacy British  

/ ˈɪntɪməsɪ /

noun

1. close or warm friendship or understanding; personal relationship

2. euphemistic (often plural) sexual relations

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Etymology

Origin of intimacy

First recorded in 1635–45; intim(ate) ¹ + -acy

Explanation

Intimacy is closeness with another person, like the intimacy that develops between friends as you tell one another your life stories and all your secrets and dreams for the future. The noun intimacy comes from the Latin word intimare, which means “impress,” or “make familiar,” which comes from the Latin intimus, meaning “inmost.” Intimacy is a close, family-like connection. There is another kind of intimacy — physical intimacy, which comes from having a sexual relationship, which, one hopes, fosters the other kind of intimacy as well.

Example Sentences

"It's awful and you feel naked and open to attack because you worry about being rejected and maybe sometimes that will happen but when it doesn't that's where intimacy and close relationships start to grow."

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

“The first is “The Longest Way Home,” where I was trying to come to terms with getting married again, where I was asking, how do you maintain intimacy and preserve your inherent solitude?

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

His love for his new fiancée—he only recently ended his fraught marriage to the actress Patricia Neal, having begun his liaison with Liccy well before its dissolution—comes through in moments of quick, quiet intimacy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

He offered both Fanning and Smith the opportunity to work with an intimacy coordinator, but neither felt it was necessary.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2026

That familiar, tantalizing evocation of intimacy in another place and time.

From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks

Related Words

• affection
• confidence
• confidentiality
• familiarity
• friendship
• understanding