Meaning & use
affectionate love
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
A warm, caring form of love shown through tenderness, closeness, and emotional support rather than sexual passion.
Grammar: Uncountable: say 'affectionate love' or 'a feeling of affectionate love', not 'an affectionate love' by itself.
Patterns
- feel affectionate love for someone
- show affectionate love
- a relationship based on affectionate love
Psychologists often describe affectionate love as the bond that keeps couples close after the first excitement fades.
She felt deep affectionate love for her grandmother, who had raised her.
Their marriage is built on affectionate love and mutual respect rather than drama.
noununcountabletechnicalspecialist
In psychology, the companionate type of love marked by attachment, trust, and long-term commitment.
Grammar: Uncountable and technical; usually contrasted with 'passionate love' in academic texts.
Patterns
- affectionate love versus passionate love
- develop affectionate love over time
In many long marriages, passionate love gradually turns into affectionate love.
The study found that affectionate love predicted greater relationship satisfaction over ten years.
Common combinations
- deep affectionate love
- He spoke about his deep affectionate love for his children.
- show affectionate love
- Some people find it hard to show affectionate love in public.
- affectionate love for someone
- Her affectionate love for her students was obvious to everyone.
- a bond of affectionate love
- A bond of affectionate love had grown between the two old friends.
Synonyms and how they differ
- companionate love
- A technical term for the same idea of warm, committed love; it is even more academic than 'affectionate love'.
- fondness
- Fondness is milder and does not necessarily involve deep commitment; it suits liking someone rather than loving them.
- tenderness
- Tenderness focuses on gentle, caring behavior, while affectionate love names the whole emotional bond.
Opposites
Word family
- affection noun
- A feeling of liking or caring for someone.
- affectionate adjective
- Showing warmth and caring, often physically.
- affectionately adverb
- In a warm, caring way.
Commonly confused: affectionate love or passionate love?
affectionate love vs passionate love
Passionate love is intense and exciting, often with strong physical desire; affectionate love is calmer and based on care and closeness.
Practice
After twenty years together, their relationship had grown into a calm, ______ love based on trust and care.
Choose one answer.
The blank needs an adjective before the noun 'love', and 'affectionate' fits best. 'Affection' is a noun, 'affectingly' is an adverb, and 'affections' is a plural noun, so none can modify 'love' here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “affectionate love”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.