May we count your visit with Google Analytics? It uses cookies and sends visit data to Google. You can change this any time under Cookie choices. Privacy

 Browse the A to Z list

Intimacy

n. kind, calm warm

What it means

Meaning 1

Close familiarity and trust between people.

Reach for it when naming emotional closeness built through mutual knowledge and safety

Years of honest collaboration created an intimacy that made silence comfortable.

Meaning 2

A feeling of closeness created by a place, work, or small setting.

Reach for it when praising a scale or presentation that allows quiet connection

The theater's low ceiling gives the recital an unusual intimacy.

Words to choose between 6

By register, from playful at the top to literary at the bottom, and by meaning across. Tap a word to see when it fits.
Meaning 1Meaning 2
playful
everyday
warm
professional
literary

Meaning 1: Close familiarity and trust between people.

  • everyday

    closeness

    Fits when emotional or physical nearness is the broad quality

    Careful Closeness can arise from family or proximity without deep mutual knowledge.

  • warm

    affection

    Fits when fond feeling deserves emphasis

    Careful Affection may be open and warm without private closeness.

  • warm

    trust

    Fits when confidence in safety and reliability is central

    Careful Trust is one condition of intimacy and not the whole relationship.

  • professional

    rapport

    Fits when easy mutual understanding supports communication

    Careful Rapport can form quickly and remain less personal than intimacy.

Meaning 2: A feeling of closeness created by a place, work, or small setting.

  • playful

    coziness

    Fits when a small comfortable atmosphere is the appeal

    Careful Coziness can sound domestic and does not fit serious artistic intimacy.

  • literary

    immediacy

    Fits when a work feels directly present to the audience

    Careful Immediacy concerns distance and impact, not the quiet closeness of a setting.

Opposites 3

  • distance
  • estrangement
  • remoteness

Common phrases 4

  • emotional intimacy

    Emotional intimacy grew as each friend became safer to disagree with.

  • sense of intimacy

    The circular seating created a sense of intimacy without crowding the audience.

  • quiet intimacy

    The photograph captures the quiet intimacy of two people repairing a net.

  • build intimacy

    Shared honesty can build intimacy without erasing either person's boundaries.

Usage notes

Keep in mind

Intimacy should not be treated as permission or assumed from closeness. Consent and boundaries remain distinct.

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Paul2520, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated