intimate
1 Americanadjective
-
associated in close personal relations.
an intimate friend.
- Synonyms:
- dear
-
characterized by or involving warm friendship or a personally close or familiar association or feeling.
an intimate greeting.
-
very private; closely personal.
one's intimate affairs.
- Synonyms:
- secret, confidential
-
characterized by or suggesting an atmosphere conducive to privacy or intimacy; warmly cozy.
an intimate little café where we can relax and talk.
-
(of an association, knowledge, understanding, etc.) arising from close personal connection or familiar experience.
-
engaged in or characterized by sexual relations.
too young to handle an intimate relationship.
-
(of women's clothing) worn next to the skin, under street or outer garments.
a store that sells intimate apparel.
-
a more intimate analysis.
- Synonyms:
- profound, thorough, in-depth, exhaustive
-
showing a close union or combination of particles or elements.
an intimate mixture.
-
inmost; deep within.
-
of, relating to, or characteristic of the inmost or essential nature; intrinsic.
the intimate structure of an organism.
-
of, relating to, or existing in the inmost depths of the mind.
intimate beliefs.
noun
-
intimates
plural
adjective
-
characterized by a close or warm personal relationship
an intimate friend
-
deeply personal, private, or secret
-
euphemistic having sexual relations (with)
-
-
having a deep or unusual knowledge (of)
-
(of knowledge) deep; extensive
-
-
having a friendly, warm, or informal atmosphere
an intimate nightclub
-
of or relating to the essential part or nature of something; intrinsic
-
denoting the informal second person of verbs and pronouns in French and other languages
noun
verb
-
to hint; suggest
-
to proclaim; make known
Synonym Usage
See familiar.
See hint.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
intimatesimple
-
intimatessimple
-
have intimatedperfect
-
has intimatedperfect
-
am intimatingprogressive
-
are intimatingprogressive
-
is intimatingprogressive
-
have been intimatingperfect progressive
-
has been intimatingperfect progressive
Past
-
intimatedsimple
-
had intimatedperfect
-
was intimatingprogressive
-
were intimatingprogressive
-
had been intimatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of intimate1
First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin intimātus, past participle of intimāre “to announce, make known,” derivative of intimus “inmost, most intimate”; see intima
Origin of intimate2
First recorded in 1530–40; from Late Latin intimātus, past participle of intimāre “to impress (upon), make known,” equivalent to intim(us) “inmost” ( see intima) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Intimate means being close. A small restaurant is called intimate because you're sitting close to the other people, and your best friends are considered your intimate friends. This adjective can mean very friendly, or very personal or private. The original spelling was intime, from French, from Latin intimus "innermost," from intus "within." The related verb intimate means to hint or suggest. Intimate is also a noun meaning a close friend or associate. You might intimate to your intimates that you want to leave a boring party.
Vocabulary lists containing intimate
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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.
See Examples For:
“Once we started playing with each other, and you’re still trying to figure out who your character is, working through the other character. It’s such an intimate piece with two people.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
For a singer who sang all across the world, it will be an intimate farewell in the place she called home.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
An ode to the ecstasy of Scrabble: Do you love hearing someone talk about something they’re really passionate about and know very well, in great intimate detail?
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
The sailors and pearl divers of the Indian Ocean had intimate understandings of shallow reefs—“vernacular knowledge”—that often aided British endeavors to draw maps and document marine life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Somehow I should have expected that a room furnished as this was in such exquisite taste, for all the exaggeration of the flowers, would be a place of decoration only, languorous and intimate.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Skillfully collating the accounts of Auden’s intimates, he offers details about the poet’s sexuality, psyche, cratering appearance and deteriorating habits that are painful to contemplate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Eventually, technology allows these distant intimates to share a frame.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025
These are intentionally not the Kennedy family’s stories or takes from their intimates, but the people who had enough of a professional closeness to be at hand when the assassination happened.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2023
“There is something in a landscape like that which humbles you and intimates to you that there’s something very big out there, and this thing has an awful lot of power,” says Lindahl.
From National Geographic ● Oct. 13, 2023
It’s like two people still standing at a bus terminal after all the passengers have been met, the instant shared feeling almost enough to make them intimates.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Newcastle do not want to lose another big name in Bruno Guimaraes, but the captain's future is uncertain after he intimated he wished to join Arsenal.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
He intimated he has "14-15" players in mind to start the game but will use the matches versus New Zealand and Costa Rica to decide his first tournament team.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
He looks like a walking ad for the designer Todd Snyder, and it’s also intimated that he’s bisexual.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
The local police union meanwhile intimated that Smith’s Dec. 8 resignation was timed to duck further questioning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
When the cheering had died down, Napoleon, who had remained on his feet, intimated that he too had a few words to say.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
However, Ten Hag refused to accept the negative view of the result, while intimating nobody should expect him to produce magical outcomes.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2024
Asked by other players what she was doing, she shouted, “Look at me, look at me,” intimating she couldn’t do much about it.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 21, 2023
He played intense, intimating characters so often, but I think the trick is finding the levity inside the intensity.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2023
Ohtani rejected the idea that he and Trout could push each other to greater heights, intimating he was unworthy of exercising such influence over the three-time MVP.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2022
He was intimating that physics at Berkeley might have to continue without Robert Oppenheimer.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
