intimacy

[in-tuh-muh-see]

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noun, plural in·ti·ma·cies.

the state of being intimate.

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

a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding of a place, subject, period of history, etc.: an intimacy with Japan.

an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like: to allow the intimacy of using first names.

an amorously familiar act; liberty.

sexual intercourse.

the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar: the intimacy of the room.

privacy, especially as suitable to the telling of a secret: in the intimacy of his studio.

Origin of intimacy

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

Synonyms for intimacy

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR intimacy ON THESAURUS.COM

2. closeness, familiarity, warmth, affection.

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

Related Words for intimacy

confidence, familiarity, understanding, friendship, affection, confidentiality, affinity, acquaintance, experience, communion, inwardness

Examples from the Web for intimacy

Contemporary Examples of intimacy

Miller realized he had a partner, another life, and, despite the intimacy she thought they had built, he was just another client.
Sex, Suicide, and Homework: The Secret World of the Telephone Hotline
Tim Teeman
November 20, 2014
One of the suits against Kelley charged her with defamation for calling Miller an “intimacy stalker” in her LiveJournal page.
The Mystery Woman Who Tried to Outdo Dillinger
Michael Daly
September 29, 2014
But the Beyoncé stage pictures are a ruse: they have an air of intimacy while telling us nothing of substance at all.
Celebrities, STFU About Your ‘Privacy’
Tim Teeman
September 24, 2014
It is an advertising campaign, selling Dior and selling her, bathed in the false glow of intimacy.
Celebrities, STFU About Your ‘Privacy’
Tim Teeman
September 24, 2014
Scotland for her must have been the location of many treasured moments of intimacy.
Queen Victoria’s Secret Scottish Sex Castle
Clive Irving
August 17, 2014

Historical Examples of intimacy

Between parent and child, the intimacy had been unusually close.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Oh, I forgot,—I observe that you have renewed your intimacy with Legard.
Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Are you willing to give up all intimacy with Hamish Channing?
The Channings
Mrs. Henry Wood
The intimacy of occult things isolates also these wise little birds.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
In the contemplation of beauty she knew the need of love, knew it with an intimacy that was cruel.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens

British Dictionary definitions for intimacy

intimacy

noun plural -cies

close or warm friendship or understanding; personal relationship

(often plural) euphemistic sexual relations

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 intimacy

1640s, from intimate + -cy. As a euphemism for "sexual intercourse," from 1670s.