Meaning & use
mutual love
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Meanings
phraseuncountable
A feeling of affection that two people have for each other at the same time.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun phrase; it rarely takes an or an, and it can follow verbs like feel, share, or describe.
Patterns
- mutual love between two people
- feel mutual love for someone
- a relationship based on mutual love
After years of friendship, their mutual love finally turned into marriage.
The letters show a deep mutual love that lasted until they died.
Counselors say a child grows best in an atmosphere of mutual love and respect.
phraseuncountable
Affection that two groups or sides feel for each other, not just one way.
Grammar: Often followed by between or for when you say who feels it: mutual love between the two communities.
Patterns
- mutual love between groups
- mutual love for something
- show mutual love
The festival celebrates the mutual love between the town and its sister city.
Their mutual love for the old library brought the two clubs together.
Common combinations
- mutual love and respect
- Their marriage works because of mutual love and respect.
- a bond of mutual love
- The novel describes the bond of mutual love between a mother and her son.
- deep mutual love
- They shared a deep mutual love that everyone could see.
- mutual love between
- There is real mutual love between the coach and his players.
- express mutual love
- The song lets the singers express mutual love in two languages.
Synonyms and how they differ
- reciprocal affection
- More formal and slightly technical; it stresses that the feeling is returned, and it appears mostly in writing about psychology.
- shared love
- Focuses on the love being held in common, but it can also mean many people love the same thing, not necessarily each other.
- two-way love
- Informal and conversational; good when contrasting with one-sided feelings, but too casual for formal writing.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: mutual love or common love? mutual love or mutual affection?
mutual love vs common love
Common love means many people love the same thing or person; mutual love means two people love each other.
mutual love vs mutual affection
Affection is a milder, warmer liking rather than deep romantic love, so it often describes friends or colleagues.
Practice
Which sentence uses "mutual love" correctly?
Choose one answer.
Mutual love means both people love each other, so option 0 fits. Option 3 fails because mutual requires both sides to feel it; option 2 describes a crowd loving one person, which is shared love, not mutual love.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mutual love”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.