love affair
Americannoun
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love affairs
plural
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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]
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
In the debut episode, Robach and Holmes detailed how the scandal unfolded and insisted they’d been quietly separated from their spouses before their love affair began.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
She lives in the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, but had just begun a love affair with Los Angeles, and ultimately decided to split her time between the two.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
I sincerely hope this is a love affair to remember for all the right, rather than wrong, reasons.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Individual investors’ yearslong love affair with the market’s biggest tech stocks is starting to cool off, reports Hannah Erin Lang.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“Oh God, he’s dead,” she sobbed, leaning over the body of the old man who had filled her childhood with stories and protected her clandestine love affair.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
