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
-
to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for (another person).
-
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.
-
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!
-
no love lost, dislike; animosity.
There was no love lost between the two brothers.
-
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,
-
to engage in sexual activity.
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to embrace and kiss as lovers.
-
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
-
-
an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
-
( as modifier )
love song
love story
-
-
a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
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wholehearted liking for or pleasure in something
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Christianity
-
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
-
-
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
-
are lovingprogressive
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is lovingprogressive
-
have been lovingperfect progressive
-
has been lovingperfect progressive
Past
-
lovedsimple
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had lovedperfect
-
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:
Wiltshire Connect driver James said passengers "love it"
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Here, we hold fast to our belief that a core curriculum is the foundation for a college education that supports a life enriched by a love of learning and ideas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
Once people love a jar rather than merely use it, corporate ownership can start to feel less like a business transaction than someone acquiring custody of a family recipe.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
“I love the idea of trying to put together something from the beginning,” said Evans, 66.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
“That’s okay. I love your puzzle, Paul! How long have you been working on it?”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Sixteen years after fearing his career was over for good, the father-of-three is still playing the game he loves at the age of 37.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
But as anyone who loves someone with dementia knows, this outlook can lead into a sort of trap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
It’s a balancing act and he loves it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Not everybody loves her shtick, but at least we all got the joke.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2017
Joey loves plants, so she fills her room with them— potted plants sit on the windowsill, ivy and philodendron overflow from hanging pots.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
“I always knew my mother loved me,” Philippe said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Some have since passed away without ever discovering the fates of their loved ones.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
As frontotemporal dementia degrades social awareness, loved ones and neuroscientists confront the heartbreaking boundary between a changing mind and the enduring self.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
For troops’ families, such abstractions, repeated in media discourse, have concrete consequences when their loved ones don’t come home on time.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
And what if they discovered him—the fabled monster they loved to hate?
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
She also has memories of her mother loving music - playing and singing hits by Abba, Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
"I'm loving it," he says about playing non-league 19 years after Mourinho sent him on for his Chelsea debut in the 89th minute against Everton on the final day of the 2006-07 Premier League season.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Only months after the attacks, Spike Lee took on 9/11 with a boldness that only 15 years of provocative filmmaking — and a lifetime of loving New York — could sharpen into an artist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
For a satire of human arrogance, this book retains a loving center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
But while Charles always felt alienated and alone, James grew up surrounded by loving family and friends.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
