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Love

v. kind, joyful warm

What it means

Meaning 1

To feel deep affection, care, or attachment toward someone.

Reach for it when expressing a strong personal bond grounded in care

The siblings love one another enough to speak honestly after conflict.

Meaning 2

To take great pleasure in or feel strong enthusiasm for something.

Reach for it when expressing more than ordinary liking for an activity, place, or object

I love the quiet hour before the market opens.

Words to choose between 9

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
formal
literary

Meaning 1: To feel deep affection, care, or attachment toward someone.

  • warm

    adore

    Fits when very strong affectionate delight is intended

    Careful Adore can sound exaggerated or worshipful in restrained relationships.

  • warm

    care for

    Fits when dependable concern and support are safer than declaring love

    Careful Care for can also mean look after and may sound emotionally cooler.

  • formal

    be devoted to

    Fits when steadfast commitment is the established quality

    Careful Devotion can exist through duty without the full feeling of love.

  • literary

    cherish

    Fits when care includes protecting and valuing over time

    Careful Cherish emphasizes preciousness more than spontaneous affection.

  • literary

    treasure

    Fits when the person is valued as precious

    Careful Treasure risks treating a person like a possession.

Meaning 2: To take great pleasure in or feel strong enthusiasm for something.

  • playful

    be crazy about

    Fits when exuberant informal enthusiasm suits the audience

    Careful Its exuberance cheapens solemn affection and jars in professional copy.

  • everyday

    enjoy

    Fits when pleasure in an activity is real but moderate

    Careful Enjoy understates passionate enthusiasm.

  • warm

    be fond of

    Fits when gentle preference is more accurate than intense enthusiasm

    Careful Fondness is too mild when the activity is central to someone's life.

  • professional

    be passionate about

    Fits when sustained enthusiasm drives effort

    Careful Passion may concern ambition rather than pleasure.

Opposites 3

  • hate
  • neglect
  • dislike

Common phrases 3

  • love deeply

    They love deeply while respecting one another's independence.

  • love to learn

    The volunteers love to learn from craftspeople in each village.

  • love someone

    To love someone includes caring about what they actually need.

Word family 3

Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Dvortygirl, American accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Updated