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Synonyms

love affair

American  

noun

  1. a romantic relationship or episode between lovers; an amour.

  2. an active enthusiasm for something.

    my love affair with sailing.
love affair British  

noun

  1. a romantic or sexual relationship, esp a temporary one, between two people

  2. a great enthusiasm or liking for something

    a love affair with ballet
"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
love affair Idioms  

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

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

Victory would be the crowning moment of a 70-year love affair with the sport that began during childhood.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 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

Not that Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff’s doomed-by-their-own-hands love affair ever needed the exposure; Brontë’s themes of obsession, revenge, social class and the supernatural are still analyzed in high school English classes.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026

Her life, however, was a model of America’s great love affair with mobility, in every sense.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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.