Meaning & use
affectionate toward
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
showing warm, loving feelings in the way you behave toward someone.
Grammar: Follows a linking verb and names the person who receives the warmth: be affectionate toward someone.
Patterns
- be affectionate toward someone
- feel affectionate toward someone
- become affectionate toward someone
- affectionate toward each other
He has always been affectionate toward his younger sister.
After the trip, the children seemed more affectionate toward their grandparents.
She is warm and affectionate toward her students, but she still expects good work.
phrasefixed phrase
feeling gentle fondness or liking for a person, animal, or place.
Grammar: Used for inner feelings as well as visible behavior; the object can be a person, an animal, or even a place.
Patterns
- feel affectionate toward someone
- grow affectionate toward something
- remain affectionate toward someone
I still feel affectionate toward the little town where I grew up.
He grew affectionate toward the stray cat that visited his garden every morning.
Even after the argument, she remained affectionate toward her old friend.
Common combinations
- be affectionate toward someone
- Their new teacher is patient and affectionate toward the youngest children.
- feel affectionate toward someone
- I feel affectionate toward my cousins even though we rarely meet.
- grow affectionate toward something
- Over the years she grew affectionate toward the old house.
- remain affectionate toward someone
- He remained affectionate toward his parents throughout his busy career.
- affectionate toward each other
- The couple stayed affectionate toward each other after forty years of marriage.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loving
- Stronger and more general; it can describe a whole relationship, while "affectionate toward" points at how someone acts or feels toward one particular person.
- fond of
- Also shows gentle liking, but it is followed by "of", so you say "fond of someone", never "fond toward someone".
- warm
- Describes friendly, kind behavior in general; "affectionate toward" is narrower and always names the person receiving the feeling.
Opposites
Word family
- affection noun
- A feeling of gentle fondness or love for someone.
- affectionately adverb
- In a warm, loving way: she smiled affectionately at him.
- affectionate adjective
- The base adjective meaning warm and loving, used before a noun or after a linking verb.
Commonly confused: affectionate toward or affected? affectionate toward or affective?
affectionate toward vs affected
"Affected" means influenced by something or pretended; "affectionate" means loving. They sound similar but have nothing to do with each other.
affectionate toward vs affective
A technical word about emotions or moods in general, used in psychology; it does not mean loving toward a person.
Practice
Which sentence uses "affectionate toward" correctly?
Choose one answer.
"Affectionate toward" is a fixed phrase followed directly by the person: affectionate toward her little brother. "Affectionate of" uses the wrong preposition, and the last two options add an extra word, which the phrase never takes.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “affectionate toward”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.