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love-hate relationship

American

[luhv-heyt ri-ley-shuhn-ship] / ˈlʌvˈheɪt rɪˈleɪ ʃənˌʃɪp /

noun

a state of ambivalence in which one feels both love and hate for someone or something.

Transylvania has something of a love-hate relationship with Dracula tourism.
The love-hate relationship between directors and actors is entertainingly dissected in this kiss-and-tell memoir from the directing frontlines.

Etymology

Origin of love-hate relationship

First recorded in 1920–25

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:

love-hate relationship

But for most people in most of the world, as I’ve written previously, it’s time to move on from eight tormented decades of an increasingly fraught love-hate relationship with America.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who has a love-hate relationship with private credit, warned about more credit “cockroaches” lurking.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025

"I could, I suppose, but I've got this love-hate relationship with it," she says.

From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025

Society has a remarkable love-hate relationship with artificial sweeteners.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2025

At the same time, Mami and Papi battled each other, intruding into my fantasies with their real-life love-hate relationship.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023