love
Americannoun
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loves
plural
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a strong feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, such as for a parent, child, friend, or pet.
He bent and kissed his newborn daughter on the brow, his heart full of love and gratitude.
- Synonyms:
- friendliness, regard, inclination, liking
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a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for another person.
The couple’s ardent love for each other, poured out in these love letters, survived their wartime separation.
- Synonyms:
- adoration, passion, warmth, predilection, fondness, tenderness
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sexual passion or desire.
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active, self-giving concern for the well-being of others.
Love of one's neighbor is the greatest virtue.
What this suffering world needs is more love.
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a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
I long to be with you, my love.
He was my first and only love.
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(used as a term of endearment, affection, or the like).
Would you like to see a movie, love?
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a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
It's the story of her many loves, told through the eyes of a journalist.
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Love, a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
-
strong enthusiasm or liking for anything.
His huge personal library testified to his love of books.
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a thing for which one has a strong enthusiasm or liking.
The theater was her great love.
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Religion. the benevolent affection and deep compassion of God for all creatures, or the reverent devotion returned from them to God.
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Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
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a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.
verb (used with object)
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loves,
present (3rd person singular)
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loved,
past participle, past
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loving
present participle
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to have a warm personal attachment to or deep affection for.
All her students love her.
I fuss over you, I know, but I love you and I want you to be safe.
- Synonyms:
- like
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to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for (another person).
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to feel a strong liking for or take great pleasure in; enjoy actively and with enthusiasm.
I love music.
He's loving his new job.
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to feel or show active, self-giving concern for.
Love your neighbor—even the one you don’t like.
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to feel or express reverent devotion toward; adore.
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to need or require; benefit greatly from.
Plants love sunlight.
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to have sexual intercourse with.
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to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
verb (used without object)
-
loves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
loved,
past participle, past
-
loving
present participle
verb phrase
idioms
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for love,
-
out of devotion, affection, liking, or enjoyment.
-
without compensation.
He volunteered at the animal shelter for love.
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for the love of, in consideration of; for the sake of.
For the love of mercy, stop that noise!
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no love lost, dislike; animosity.
There was no love lost between the two brothers.
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in love, infused with or feeling deep affection or passion.
He was a youth always in love.
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in love with, feeling deep affection or passion for (a person, idea, occupation, etc.); enamored of.
I was in love with the girl next door.
Anyone spending that many hours here without pay must be in love with their work!
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make love,
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to engage in sexual activity.
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to embrace and kiss as lovers.
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verb
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(tr) to have a great attachment to and affection for
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(tr) to have passionate desire, longing, and feelings for
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(tr) to like or desire (to do something) very much
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(tr) to make love to
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(intr) to be in love
noun
-
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an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
-
( as modifier )
love song
love story
-
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a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
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wholehearted liking for or pleasure in something
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Christianity
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God's benevolent attitude towards man
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man's attitude of reverent devotion towards God
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Also: my love. a beloved person: used esp as an endearment
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informal a term of address, esp but not necessarily for a person regarded as likable
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(in tennis, squash, etc) a score of zero
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to become in love
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without payment
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(used with a negative) in any circumstances
I wouldn't eat a snail for love or money
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for the sake of
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in a state of strong emotional attachment and usually sexual attraction
-
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to have sexual intercourse (with)
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archaic to engage in courtship (with)
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Usage
What are other ways to say love?
The noun love refers to a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. When should you use love in place of affection or devotion? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lovesimple
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lovessimple
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have lovedperfect
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has lovedperfect
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am lovingprogressive
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are lovingprogressive
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is lovingprogressive
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have been lovingperfect progressive
-
has been lovingperfect progressive
Past
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lovedsimple
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had lovedperfect
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was lovingprogressive
-
were lovingprogressive
-
had been lovingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of love
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun love, louve, luve, Old English lufu, cognate with Old Frisian luve, Old High German luba, Gothic lubō; verb derived from the noun; akin to Latin libēre (earlier lubēre ) “to be pleasing,” Polish lubić “to like, enjoy;” see also lief ( def. )
Explanation
How can we love our partners, our parents, sunsets at the beach, cats, and Fridays? The types of love listed here mean different things — but what remains is the certainty, at least for now, that what you love is what you adore. Love is an expression of emotion. Love, it is said, can make you walk miles barefoot in the rain just to see the person you can't stop thinking about. Or, it can make you cross the street because the store "you love" is located there. Love is a versatile word — like what it describes. Love takes many forms, but the word typically describes an affection that is deep and emotional. If you say you’re “in love,” that tends to refer to the romantic kind of love.
Vocabulary lists containing love
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:
The show’s big themes are personal, not political: identity, love, loss, fathers and sons, family freedom, connection and being “real.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
"You have to love animals. You have to respect them," he insisted.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Despite the high price tag, the Redmans say they love their kitchen and don’t regret the project for a second.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Next, the tax break people love when they buy is often the tax item they hate most when they sell.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
When Grace and I first met, it wasn’t instant love.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
TK Drayton, who’s been in Cleveland’s program for four years, said of Guzman, “He loves us outside of sports. He checks on you. You want to go the extra mile for him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
As one of Britain's best-known TV presenters for decades, Jonathan Ross has met many famous people, and Murphy loves hearing his stories.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Wall Street loves to make things seem more complicated than they need to be.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
In the Vanity Fair interview, Mr. Altman seemed to put an odd and repeated emphasis on how much he loves his children, as if he sensed this as a humanizing tool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“And she loves you very much. She’ll find a way back to you.”
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
Make sure to check in on loved ones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
For many, finding their loved ones has been a lifetime's work.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences remain with the individual involved, their family, friends and loved ones. We also continue to support the guests and team members affected,” a Six Flags spokeswoman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
If you want to use plants to create a memorial space indoors on a balcony or window box, think about nearby seating for two which opens up the opportunity for conversation about your loved one.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
We, the attendees of this funeral, are not the loved ones.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
“He was great with kids, a very loving man,” Robinson said, encouraging people to remember the beloved person behind the headlines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Mr. Douglas relates that his father, after suffering a stroke in 1996, came to regret his emotional deficiencies and tried to become more loving and present.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Her mother Claudette McBean described her daughter as kind, loving and the "life and soul of the party".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“She was the most loving mother, wife and person, and our lives will never be the same without her,” Flatley added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
“She has had a good example before her all her life, my dear,” Mr. March whispered back, with a loving look at the worn face and gray head beside him.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
