love
Americannoun
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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.
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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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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)
verb phrase
idioms
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for love,
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out of devotion, affection, liking, or enjoyment.
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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
-
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 Dodgers love to project a wholesome, family-friendly essence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Bridgers also provided guest vocals on Silk Chiffon, a freewheeling sapphic love song that became Muna's breakthrough single.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Mr. Robbins writes with an almost proprietorial love for Zurbarán and hence should get the last word.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
"I was honest at that last press conference when I said I needed to look at myself and decide if I still love this game."
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
“I love my grandma, but I don’t think she’s coming to help me choose. I think she’s coming to make the decision for me.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Another novel might find Rose, after she decides she loves Miles so much that she wants to get pregnant, going to a doctor, getting tests, worrying about being almost 40 and what that means.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Now, however she has seen the region she loves reduced to ashes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
So was Sheila, his mother, and he loves that because he's given his mother everything she didn't have.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
But in many ways, the World Cup did a better job of highlighting what the world loves about America than any military flyover ever could.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
“He would if she could turn straw into gold. Nothin’ the king loves more than gold, and I think he’d do anything to get it.”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
One recent survey found that less than 20% of adults have detailed conversations with loved ones about care preferences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
As people live longer, social isolation can be a risk for older adults, who may face obstacles such as diminished mobility, limited access to transportation and often, the loss of a loved one or caregiver.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with Joanna’s family and loved ones,” Sheriff-Coroner Tina Nieto said in a statement Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Det Ch Insp John Bonner said the force's thoughts were "firmly with Harry's family and loved ones at what is an extremely difficult and distressing time for them".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
They loved the simple, concrete way she could convey theological abstractions.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The final product in “Remake” is a combination of the two styles, with the loving squabble between a father and his son left in the middle.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
He is loving the whole experience and loving that his family is enjoying it too.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, she grew up on Long Island loving math, and always anticipated a career in academia or as a scientist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Lack of legal status didn’t stop them from building beautiful lives — a wife, a home, a loving dog.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
She was part of that warm, loving circle where she would always be.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
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.
