falling in love

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The experience of starting to feel strong romantic love for someone.

   Grammar: Used as a gerund noun: falling in love can be scary.

   Patterns

   • falling in love with someone

   Falling in love changed the way she saw the world.

   He wrote a song about falling in love on a summer evening.

   Falling in love with a colleague can make work awkward.

2. 2verbintransitive

   Becoming deeply attached to someone romantically, or developing a strong liking for something.

   Grammar: Takes with after it: they are falling in love with each other.

   Patterns

   • be falling in love with someone
   • be falling in love with something

   They are falling in love with each other more every day.

   I think I am falling in love with this city.

   Are you falling in love with the new neighbor?

Common combinations

slowly falling in love

They were slowly falling in love over long walks.

falling in love with someone

She is falling in love with her best friend.

afraid of falling in love

He was afraid of falling in love again.

the feeling of falling in love

The feeling of falling in love is hard to describe.

Synonyms and how they differ

becoming smitten

This stresses the sudden, dazzled start and is lighter in tone.

developing feelings

This is more cautious and neutral, without the full emotional force of love.

losing your heart

This is more poetic and old-fashioned.

Opposites

Word family

fall in love verb

the base idiom

love noun

deep affection

lovely adjective

attractive or delightful

Commonly confused: falling in love or being in love?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “falling in love”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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