EN

Synonyms for love

  • noun
  • verb

Most common

darling heart sweetheart lover love-making sex liking passion

Synonyms by meaning

Noun

1. Darling — A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved

darling, heart, sweetheart, lover, affection, dear, sweetie, friendship, baby, babby US, devotion, fondness, grace, honey, kindness, flame, lovey, lovie UK, predilection, precious, treasure, dearest, babe, tenderness

2. Sex — sexual activity

love-making, sex, bang, screw, hump, union

3. Liking — sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction

liking, lust, eros, carnality

4. Passion

passion, admiration, infatuation

Other

romance, make-out, attraction, shine, cupid, mate, venus

Verb

1. Know

like, know, admire, have sex, get it on, have it away, do it, take, make love, sleep together, esteem, fancy, regard, sleep with, lie with, bed, bonk, jazz, fuck vulgar, have it off slang, get laid vulgar slang

2. Adore

adore, cherish, care for, dote

Other

enjoy, delight

Antonyms

indifference, enmity, malice

All antonyms of love →

Definitions

  1. n. 1

    A person who is the object of romantic feelings; a darling, a sweetheart, a beloved.

  2. n. 2

    Sexual desire; attachment based on sexual attraction.

  3. v. 1

    To have a strong affection for (someone or something).

    I love my spouse. I love you! I love that song!

  4. v. 2

    To need, thrive on.

    Mold loves moist, dark places.

Related words

Word family
lovability lovebug loved-up love-in-a-mist love-in-idleness loveless love-lies-bleeding love-lock
Phrases
make love love affair love child in love love potion calf love lad's love love doll
Is a kind of
affect desire like
Other spellings
loave lofe

Forms

Plural
loves → darlings, hearts, sweethearts, lovers…
Past participle
loved
e.g. loved → liked, known, admired, taken…

Choose the right word

Love, Approve, Applaud or Esteem?

We approve what is excellent, applaud heroic deeds, esteem the good, love our friends.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • heart The frightened boy's heart palpitated with terror.
  • lover Dan overheard Linda's conversation with her lover.
  • darling Try to resist the urge to pick your nose, darling.
  • sweetheart Sami ended up marrying his high school sweetheart.
  • romance I have studied all the national Romance languages.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
loverising
heartrising
loverrising
darlingrising
sweetheartrising
romancerising

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

By length

3 letters
sex1, bed1
4 letters
like1, know1, take1, fuck1, baby2, dear1, mate1, bang1, jazz1, babe1, lust1, hump1, eros2, bonk1
5 letters
heart1, union2, enjoy2, grace1, honey2, lover2, fancy2, screw1, shine1, flame1, venus2, adore2, cupid2, lovey
6 letters
regard2, liking2, admire2, esteem2
7 letters
passion2, romance2, darling2, delight2, sweetie2, cherish2, dearest2
8 letters
precious2, treasure2, kindness2, devotion3, fondness2
9 letters
affection3, carnality
10 letters
friendship2, attraction3, sweetheart2, admiration4, tenderness3
11 letters
infatuation5
12 letters
predilection4

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (baby2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
amour
Italiano
amore
Español
amor
Deutsch
Liebe
Català
amor