EN

Synonyms for hug

21 synonyms
2 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

embrace squeeze bosom caress coll

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Embrace

embrace, caress, cuddle UK, squeeze, cling, press, bosom, hold fast, stick, clasp, adhere

2. Hunker — to crouch; to huddle as with cold

hunker, squat, stoop

Other

cling to, treasure, cleave, coll, accoll dated

Noun

make-out, clinch

Definitions

v. 1
To crouch; to huddle as with cold.
v. 2
To cling closely together.
n. 1
A close embrace, especially when charged with an emotion such as affection, joy, relief, lust, anger, aggression, compassion, or the like, as opposed to being characterized by formality, equivocation or ambivalence (a half-embrace).

Related words

Word family: huggable
Phrases: hug drug bunny hug hug machine

Forms

Plural: hugs → make-outs, clinches…
Past participle: hugged
e.g. hugged → embraced, caressed, cuddled, squeezed…

Example sentences

embrace He was trying to persuade me to embrace his ideas.
squeeze Everyone squeeze together so I can take a picture.
bosom Tom and Mary have been bosom friends for years.
caress Tom and Mary kiss and caress each other.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
hug		rising
embrace		rising
squeeze		rising
bosom		rising
caress		rising
coll		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: coll¹
5 letters: press¹, stick¹, cling¹, squat¹, clasp¹, stoop¹, bosom²
6 letters: adhere², cuddle², clinch¹, caress², cleave¹, hunker², accoll
7 letters: embrace², squeeze¹
8 letters: treasure²

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bosom² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: embrasser
Italiano: abbracciare
Español: abrazar
Deutsch: umarmen
Català: abraçar