love

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Strong affection

Nouns

1. love, fondness, liking; inclination, desire; regard, admiration, affection, tenderness, heart, attachment, yearning; gallantry; passion, flame, devotion, infatuation, adoration; spark, ardor, tender passion; idolatry. See endearment, feeling, pleasure, marriage.

2. (caring love) benevolence, brotherly or sisterly love, mother or maternal love, father or paternal love, parental affection.

3. (symbol of love) Cupid, Venus, Eros; true lover's knot, engagement ring, love token.

4. love affair, amour, liaison, intrigue, entanglement, fling, romance, affaire d'amour or de cœur, amourette, love story, plighted troth, courtship. Informal, calf or puppy love.

5.

a. lover, suitor, follower, admirer, adorer, wooer, beau, honey, sweetheart, inamorato, swain, young man, boy friend, flame, love, true love, fair-haired boy; Lothario, Romeo, Casanova, Don Juan, gallant, paramour, amoroso; fiancé. Slang, wolf, lover boy, main man, main squeeze, ponce, make-out artist, stud, stage-door Johnny, ace, daddy, fancy man.

b. inamorata, ladylove; idol, darling, duck, angel, goddess, true love, girl, sweetheart, beloved, girl or lady friend; betrothed, affianced, fiancée. Informal, steady, honeybunch, date, sweetie, jo. Slang, fancy woman.

c. favorite, apple of one's eye, light of one's life.

d. lovers, lovebirds.

e. lovers' lane, lover's leap.

Verbs

1. love, like, fancy, care for, favor, become enamored, fall or be in love with; go with, go together, keep company; revere, take to, make much of, hold dear, prize, hug, cling to, cherish, pet; adore, idolize, love to distraction, dote on, desire; throw oneself at, lose or give one's heart. Informal, go steady, pin. Slang, go for, fall for, take a shine to, shine up to, be sweet on, be nuts about, carry a torch for.

2. win, gain, or engage the love, affections, or heart, disarm; sweep off one's feet; keep company; take the fancy of; attract, endear, charm, fascinate, captivate, bewitch, seduce, enamor, enrapture, turn the head. Informal, throw oneself at the head of. See attraction.

3. have an affair; go steady. Slang, carry on, fool around.

Adjectives

1. loving, fond of; taken with, smitten, attached to, enamored, charmed, in love, lovesick, lovelorn; affectionate, tender, sweet on, amorous, amatory, amative, erotic, uxorious, ardent, passionate, romantic, rapturous, devoted. Slang, going steady, pinned; stuck on.

2. loved, beloved, well beloved, dearly beloved. See endearment.

3. lovable, adorable, winsome. See beauty, attraction.

Phrases — love is blind; love makes the world go round; cold hands, warm heart; every Jack has his Jill; Friday's child is loving and giving; love me, love my dog; make love, not war.

Quotations — The course of true love never did run smooth (Shakespeare), Then must you speak of one who loved not wisely but too well (Shakespeare), The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can ever end (Benjamin Disraeli), In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love (Lord Tennyson), How do I love thee? Let me count the ways (Elizabeth Barrett Browning), 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all (Lord Tennyson), All you need is love (Lennon/ McCartney), Love means not ever having to say you're sorry (Erich Segal), We are easily duped by those we love (Molière).

Antonyms, see hate, dislike.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Passionate and tender devotion]

Syn. affection, attachment, devotion, infatuation, passion, tenderness, tender passion, fondness, adoration, yearning, flame, rapture, enchantment, ardor, emotion, sentiment, amorousness, free love, enjoyment, cherishing, devotedness, worship, deSire, fancy, weakness, amativeness, Eros, Cupid, Amor, Venus, Aphrodite, Kama, crush*, puppy love*, calf love*; see also affection 1 , deSire 3 .

Ant. hate*, aversion, antipathy.

2. [Affection based on esteem]

Syn. respect, regard, appreciation; see admiration .

3. [A lively and enduring interest]

Syn. relish, predilection, penchant, passion; see affection 1 , inclination 1 , zest 1 .

4. [A beloved]

Syn. dear one, loved one, cherished one; see lover 1 .

• fall in love (with),

Syn. begin to feel love, adore, be infatuated.

• for love,

Syn. as a favor, voluntarily, without payment; see freely 2 .

• for the love of,

Syn. for the sake of, with fond concern for, because of; see for .

• in love,

Syn. enamored, infatuated, smitten, besotted; see loving .

• make love,

Syn. fondle, embrace, caress; see love ( v. ) 2 .

• not for love or money,

Syn. under no conditions, by no means, no; see never .

• with no love lost between,

Syn. unkindly, vengefully, full of dislike; see angrily .

Syn.- love implies intense fondness or deep devotion and may apply to various relationships or objects [ sexual love , brotherly love , love of one's work ] ; affection suggests warm, tender feelings, usually not as powerful or deep as those implied by love [ he has no affection for children ] ; attachment implies connection by ties of affection, attraction, devotion, etc. and may be felt for inanimate things as well as for people [ an attachment to an old hat ] ; infatuation implies a foolish or unreasoning passion or affection, often a transient one [ an elderly man's infatuation for a young girl ] v.

1. [To be passionately devoted]

Syn. adore, be in love with, care for, delight in, hold dear, choose, fancy, venerate, be enchanted by, be passionately attached to, have affection for, be enamored of, dote on, glorify, exalt, idolize, prize, put on a pedestal, hold in affection, deify, be fascinated by, hold high, canonize, think the world of, treasure, prefer, yearn for, esteem, be captivated by, be enraptured by, lose one's heart to, be fond of, admire, long for, be oneself with, thrive with, flip over*, fall for*, be nuts about*, be crazy about*, go for*, have it bad*, cotton to*; see also cherish 1 , like 2 .

Ant. hate*, detest, loathe.

2. [To express love by caresses]

Syn. cherish, fondle, make love, make much of, feast one's eyes on, embrace, cling to, clasp, hug, take into one's arms, hold, pet, soothe, stroke, encircle with one's arms, press to the heart, draw close, remain near to, bring to one's side, look tenderly at, look deeply into one's eyes, chase after*, make a play for*, shine up to*, neck*, make out*, love up*, make it*; see also caress , copulate , kiss .

Ant. exclude, spurn, refuse.

3. [To possess a deep and abiding interest]

Syn. enjoy, delight in, relish; see admire 1 , like 1 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

endearment, devotion, adoration, fondness, affection, warmth, esteem, friendship, closeness, intimacy, attachment, regard, passion, infatuation, crush, enchantment, amour, ardor, rapture, desire, longing, *hots. ''Our highest word, and the synonym of God. —Ralph Waldo Emerson. ''An alliance of friendship and animalism. — Charles Colton. ''Friendship set on fire. — Jeremy Taylor. ''The heart s immortal thirst to be completely known and all forgiven. — Henry Van Dyke. ''Spiritual fire. —Emanuel Swedenborg. ''Two minds without a single thought. —Philip Barry. ''A perpetual hyperbole. —Francis Bacon. ''When another person s needs are as important as your own. —Abe Burrows.

ANT.: hate, disgust, contempt, repulsion

II

v.

1. adore be fond of, cherish, worship, hold dear, treasure, idolize, think the world of, like, be crazy about, long for, desire.

2. *make out hug, kiss, cuddle, neck, embrace, make love, romance, have sex, engage in foreplay, *have the hots for.

ANT.: 1. hate, dislike, loathe, detest

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun 1. Deep and ardent affection: adoration, devotion, worship. See LIKE, LOVE. 2. The passionate affection and desire felt by lovers for each other: amorousness, fancy, passion, romance. See LOVE, SEX. 3. An intimate sexual relationship between two people: affair, amour, love affair, romance. See LOVE, SEX. 4. The condition of being closely tied to another by affection or faith: affection, attachment, devotion, fondness, liking, loyalty (used in plural). See CONNECT. 5. A person who is much loved: beloved, darling, dear, honey, minion, precious, sweet, sweetheart, truelove. Informal: sweetie. Idiom: light of one's life. See LOVE. 6. A strong, enthusiastic liking for something: love affair, passion, romance. See LOVE. II verb 1. To feel deep devoted love for: adore, worship. See LOVE. 2. To like or enjoy enthusiastically: adore, delight.