love affair
Americannoun
-
a romantic relationship or episode between lovers; an amour.
-
an active enthusiasm for something.
my love affair with sailing.
noun
-
a romantic or sexual relationship, esp a temporary one, between two people
-
a great enthusiasm or liking for something
a love affair with ballet
-
An intimate sexual relationship, as in They had a torrid love affair many years ago . This expression dates from about 1600, when it referred merely to the experiences connected with being in love. The current sense dates from the second half of the 1800s.
-
A strong enthusiasm, as in We can't ignore America's love affair with the automobile . [Mid-1900s]
Etymology
Origin of love affair
First recorded in 1585–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She brought the socially connected Mrs. Walter into her confidence about the love affair with Elisha.
From Literature
![]()
After a three-year love affair with anything related to artificial intelligence, U.S. investors are flocking to the factory owners, fast-food restaurants and commodity companies that have seemingly strong odds of surviving the technological revolution intact.
Not that Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff’s doomed-by-their-own-hands love affair ever needed the exposure; Brontë’s themes of obsession, revenge, social class and the supernatural are still analyzed in high school English classes.
From Los Angeles Times
In an interview published to mark Massie's retirement as The Scotsman's chief literary critic, David Robinson outlined what he called the author's "love affair" with the paper, as well as the scale of his output.
From BBC
Prince Axel of Denmark liked to drink Carlsberg while at the restaurant in the 1920s, beginning that culinary love affair.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.