love
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A strong positive emotion of regard and affection.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
luhvIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlʌv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A strong positive emotion of regard and affection
Any object of warm affection or devotion
“The theater was her first love.”
uncountable
A deep caring for the existence of another.
A profound and caring affection towards someone.
A feeling of intense attraction towards someone.
A beloved person; used as terms of endearment
verb
Have a great affection or liking for
transitive
To be strongly inclined towards something; an emphatic form of like.
transitive
To need, thrive on.
To virtuously prioritize something over yourself.
To praise; commend.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A deep caring for the existence of another.
Used this way, love is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It carries warmth, so it reads as personal rather than detached.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Affectionate
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use love
- “The theater was her first love.”noun
- “Their love left them indifferent to their surroundings.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Held dear.
A person who loves someone or is loved by someone.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Having characteristics that attract love or affection.
A very pretty girl who works as a photographer's model.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A stylized or decorative knot used as an emblem of love.
A personal letter to a loved one expressing affection.
Young leaves widely used as leaf vegetables.
Sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people.
A crease on the palm.
The lyric of a love song.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A stylized or decorative knot used as an emblem of love.
A stylized or decorative knot used as an emblem of love.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.