love affair
Americannoun
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a romantic relationship or episode between lovers; an amour.
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an active enthusiasm for something.
my love affair with sailing.
noun
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a romantic or sexual relationship, esp a temporary one, between two people
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a great enthusiasm or liking for something
a love affair with ballet
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An intimate sexual relationship, as in They had a torrid love affair many years ago . This expression dates from about 1600, when it referred merely to the experiences connected with being in love. The current sense dates from the second half of the 1800s.
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A strong enthusiasm, as in We can't ignore America's love affair with the automobile . [Mid-1900s]
Etymology
Origin of love affair
First recorded in 1585–95
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.
Rumours of a love affair have been circulating since January when the pair were seen together at an event in Paris to mark the 200th anniversary of Le Figaro newspaper.
From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026
The Vanguard option is the modern-day incarnation of the storied Vanguard 500 fund, which kicked off investors’ love affair with index investing in the 1970s.
From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026
The feisty heroine is Iris Hawkins, who, in the course of a tentative love affair with a nerdy engineer named Geoffrey Hale, discovers the pernicious designs of a secret order.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
Yet the love affair between Freeman and Braves fans was so evident in his 2022 return to Atlanta that, in the moment, Clayton Kershaw said, “I hope we’re not second fiddle.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2026
“Ernest’s love affair with the deuteron beam was legendary,” Luis Alvarez would observe later.
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.
