Meaning & use
caressing
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“caressing” is a form of “caress”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Touching someone or something in a slow, gentle, loving way.
Grammar: Takes an object: she was caressing the baby's cheek.
Patterns
- caress someone's face
- caress something with your hand
She sat caressing the cat's soft fur.
He was gently caressing her hand as they talked.
The child kept caressing the worn teddy bear.
verbtransitiveliterary
Moving lightly and pleasantly over something, as wind, water or light might.
Grammar: The subject is a natural force or sound, not a person.
Patterns
- something caresses something
A warm breeze was caressing the tops of the trees.
Soft music was caressing the room.
Waves kept caressing the shore.
Word forms
| base form | caress |
|---|---|
| third person singular | caresses |
| past tense | caressed |
| past participle | caressed |
Common combinations
- caressing her cheek
- He was caressing her cheek as she slept.
- caressing the strings
- The guitarist was caressing the strings with soft fingers.
- gently caressing
- The mother was gently caressing the baby's head.
- caressing hands
- Caressing hands smoothed the quilt.
- caressing breeze
- A caressing breeze cooled the beach.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stroking
- Stroking is a plainer word and can also be done to a pet without any romantic tone.
- fondling
- Fondling can sound inappropriate or sexual, so caressing is the safer, gentler choice.
- petting
- Petting is mostly used for animals, whereas caressing is for people and objects too.
- stroking
- See above; stroking involves repeated gliding movement but not necessarily affection.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: caressing or carousing?
caressing vs carousing
Carousing means drinking and celebrating noisily, which is quite different from tender touch.
Practice
She sat on the porch, ___ the dog's ears while the sun set.
Choose one answer.
Caressing means touching gently and lovingly, matching the calm scene. Slapping and pushing are rough, and scratching hard is not tender.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “caressing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.