platonic love

noun

often capitalized P

: love conceived by Plato as ascending from passion for the individual to contemplation of the universal and ideal

: a close relationship between two persons in which sexual desire is nonexistent or has been suppressed or sublimated

Examples of platonic love in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web As for the platonic love between Faison and Braff, that began even before Scrubs debuted in 2001. —

Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2024 Love is in the air right now (whether that be romantic love, self-love, or platonic love with your besties) as Valentine's Day quickly approaches. —

Victoria Montalti, refinery29.com, 26 Jan. 2024 There’s also a platonic love triangle between Suzie, Sunny, and the bartender, Mixxy (a mixologist — get it?), who becomes inordinately invested in helping a rather typical barroom drunk. —

Ben Travers, IndieWire, 10 July 2024 There’s also romantic love, familial love, platonic love. —

Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2024 See all Example Sentences for platonic love

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'platonic love.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of platonic love was in 1631

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Platonic love.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/platonic%20love. Accessed 18 Sep. 2024.

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