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:
Filipinos' love for rags-to-riches underdog stories and big personalities have also made boxing and beauty pageants just as popular.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
“You were our hero and our hearts ache in your absence. We love you. We miss you.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
“I know the kids would love to see you more often.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
"I've really enjoyed it. It's a position I've played for many years from a young age. It's a position that I love and I see myself in."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
How could he love himself if he gave up everything that made him… him?
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
You can tell he loves his work and despite having pored over these documents for years, he's still awestruck by their content.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
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
Diaz, who works for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service in El Paso, Texas, builds apps in his spare time—and loves how Codex and ChatGPT have bolstered his coding ability.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Now, however she has seen the region she loves reduced to ashes.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
He’s never met my supervisor but loves to mock her.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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
She had always loved animals, but spending time at the zoo helped her understand the range of careers available - and the qualifications she would need to pursue them.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
He was loved and cuddled and had a lovely night with us.
From BBC ● 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
Clare loved the chase of Progress, that much he knew—ushering souls, tending to his garden, tidying his cottage.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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
“I love the world when I’m writing and my books are like acts of love, partly because I really struggle. I’m not walking around loving my fellow man easily.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Jeremy Howe, who edits The Archers, called Greene "utterly singular, a fabulous and raucously funny raconteur" in a statement, calling her depiction of Jill "formidable, but also wonderfully warm, loving and enormous fun".
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The Ingalls folk, after all, are warm, loving, American and, as such, inclined to take a road trip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
With a shred of Kleenex, he began with loving care to polish away the boys’ fingerprints.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
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.