1 warmth, affection, attachment, fondness, tenderness, devotion, attraction, friendship, amity, regard, admiration, fancy, adoration, adulation, ardour, passion, fervour, rapture, infatuation:

2 liking, delight, enjoyment, pleasure, fondness, attraction, predilection, bent, leaning, proclivity, inclination, disposition, weakness, partiality, preference, taste, relish, passion:

In his retirement, Charles has developed a love for golf.

3 darling, beloved, sweetheart, sweetie, sweet, honey, dear one, dearest, angel, turtle-dove, true-love, light of one's life, lover, paramour, mate, intended, betrothed; girlfriend, inamorata, lady-love, young lady, fiancée; boyfriend, beau, inamorato, suitor, swain, young man, fiancé, Archaic leman, tally, US POSSLQ (= 'Person of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters'), Colloq girl, woman, guy, man:

4 sympathy, tenderness, concern, charity, care, solicitude, affinity, rapport, harmony, brotherhood, sisterhood, fellow-feeling:

5 love affair.

(a) amour, liaison, affair, romance, relationship, affaire de coeur, intrigue:

(b) passion, mania, Colloq thing:

6 make love (to) or (with). embrace, cuddle, caress, fondle, have sexual intercourse, Archaic take, know, Colloq neck, pet, canoodle, romance, have sex, make the beast with two backs, US and Canadian make out; Taboo Slang screw, fuck, hump, bang, Brit roger, bonk:

7 cherish, admire, adore, be in love with, lose one's heart to, worship, idolize, dote on, treasure, be infatuated with, think the world of, adulate, hold dear, like, Colloq be hung up on, be crazy or nuts or wild or mad about, have a crush on:

8 delight in, take pleasure in, derive pleasure or enjoyment from, relish, be partial to, have a passion or preference or taste for, be attracted to, be captivated by, be fond of, like, enjoy, appreciate, value, Colloq get a kick from or out of, be wild about, be thrilled by, US get a bang or charge from or out of: