Synonyms for affection
Synonyms by meaning
Noun
1. Tenderness — an emotion; a feeling or natural impulse acting upon and swaying the mind
tenderness, fondness, love, heart, passion, friendship, devotion, attachment, kindness, desire, feeling, warmness, regard, inclination, liking, propensity, mood, charity, bias, bent, affectionateness, philia
Definitions
- n. 1
An emotion; a feeling or natural impulse acting upon and swaying the mind.
- n. 2
The act of affecting or acting upon.
Related words
Forms
- Plural
- affections → tendernesses, fondnesses, loves, hearts…
Choose the right word
Affection expresses more warmth of feeling; we should not speak of a mother's attachment to her babe, but of her affection or of her devotion. Regard is more distant than affection or attachment, but closer and warmer than esteem; we speak of high esteem, kind regard.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- passion We defy our foes, for our passion makes us strong!
- friendship Friendship is a plant which must be often watered.
- tenderness I looked at her and saw tenderness in her eyes.
- fondness He has a morbid fondness for murder mysteries.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| affection | rising | |
| passion | rising | |
| friendship | steady | |
| tenderness | rising | |
| fondness | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- love1, mark1, mood1, bias2, bent1
- 5 letters
- heart1
- 6 letters
- desire3, regard2, liking2, malady3, philia
- 7 letters
- feeling2, quality3, disease2, charity3, passion2
- 8 letters
- property3, accident3, disorder3, kindness2, devotion3, fondness2, warmness
- 9 letters
- condition3, sensation3, attribute3
- 10 letters
- friendship2, attachment3, tenderness3, propensity4
- 11 letters
- inclination4
- 14 letters
- characteristic5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bias2 = 2 syllables).