Meaning & use
infatuated
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivenot comparable
Feeling a sudden, very strong attraction to someone, often without knowing them well.
Grammar: Used after be, seem, become, or feel: She is infatuated. It is not usually compared with more/most.
Patterns
- be infatuated with someone
- become infatuated with someone
- seem infatuated with someone
He was infatuated with his new coworker after only two conversations.
Teenagers may become infatuated with a singer they have never met.
Do not confuse infatuation with deep, lasting love.
Common combinations
- deeply infatuated
- She was deeply infatuated and ignored every warning sign.
- infatuated with someone
- He is infatuated with someone he met online.
- briefly infatuated
- I was briefly infatuated with the idea of moving abroad.
- infatuated fan
- An infatuated fan waited outside the studio for hours.
Synonyms and how they differ
- smitten
- Suggests delighted, often charming attraction; infatuated can sound more foolish or obsessive.
- besotted
- Stronger and more disapproving than infatuated, implying loss of judgment.
- enamored
- More formal or literary; often used as enamored of/with and can be less about brief passion.
- captivated
- Means held by charm or interest; it need not be romantic, unlike infatuated.
Word family
- infatuation noun
- The intense but often short-lived feeling itself.
- infatuate verb
- To inspire a foolish or excessive passion; rare in everyday use.
Commonly confused: infatuated or inflated?
infatuated vs inflated
Inflated means filled with air or exaggerated, such as an inflated price; infatuated means romantically obsessed.
Practice
Choose the best sentence.
Choose one answer.
The fixed pattern is infatuated with someone. About, to, and at do not fit this adjective despite being common prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “infatuated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.