infatuation

noun

in·​fat·​u·​a·​tion in-ˌfa-chə-ˈwā-shən 

-chü-ˈā-

plural infatuations

1

: a feeling of foolish or obsessively strong love for, admiration for, or interest in someone or something : strong and unreasoning attachment

She speaks openly about the real-life subject of one of her songs, a conservatory teacher who is both a neighbor in her apartment building and the unwilling object of her obsessive infatuation.

—Sasha Frere-Jones

Craig Claiborne wrote about it in 1963, when he was deep in his infatuation with dill and meatballs and all things Nordic.

—Amanda Hesser

2

: the object of an unreasoning or foolish attachment

And then, I began trying to forge their autographs. I'm not sure why I did it at first, but it became an infatuation.

—Zach Selwyn

Synonyms

• crush
• mash
• passion

Examples of infatuation in a Sentence

had a brief infatuation with the captain of the ski team

Recent Examples on the Web

The bedroom’s Fortuny fabric reappeared in his interior for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York, completed in 1958, and the canopy’s arches were the seed of his classicist infatuation, which culminated at the Beck House, an opulent private home in Dallas finished in 1964. —Suleman Anaya, New York Times, 3 May 2024

The infatuation between Ponyboy and Cherry (Emma Pittman), which produces a couple of serviceable duets, feels perfunctory and fades into a melange of other conflicts. —Naveen Kumar, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1648, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing infatuation

• self-infatuation