Standard Lemma guide

fondness

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈfɑndnəs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɒndnəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F AA1 N D N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The quality of being fond: liking something, foolishness; doting affection; propensity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a quality proceeding from feelings of affection or love

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: affectionateness, lovingness, warmth

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: emotionality, emotionalism

Narrower terms: tenderness, uxoriousness

3

noun

Meaning 3

a predisposition to like something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he had a fondness for whiskey

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fancy, partiality

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: liking

4

noun

Meaning 4

a positive feeling of liking

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he had trouble expressing the affection he felt
  • the child won everyone's heart
  • the warmness of his welcome made us feel right at home

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: affection, affectionateness, tenderness, heart, warmness, warmheartedness, philia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: feeling

Narrower terms: attachment, fond regard, protectiveness, regard, respect, soft spot

History

Etymology

From Middle English fondnes, fondnesse, fonnednesse, equivalent to fond + -ness.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: нежност (nežnost) — the quality of being fond
  • Bulgarian: привързаност (privǎrzanost) — the quality of being fond
  • Czech: záliba — the quality of being fond
  • Czech: láska — the quality of being fond
  • Czech: slabost — the quality of being fond
  • French: affection — the quality of being fond
  • German: Vorliebe — the quality of being fond
  • German: Herzenssache — the quality of being fond
  • Hungarian: szívügy — the quality of being fond
  • Irish: caithis — the quality of being fond
  • Irish: gile — the quality of being fond
  • Japanese: 好き — the quality of being fond
  • Japanese: 好み — the quality of being fond
  • Japanese: 嗜好 — the quality of being fond
  • Māori: kanehetanga — the quality of being fond
  • Polish: zamiłowanie — the quality of being fond
  • Polish: czułość — the quality of being fond
  • Russian: не́жность (néžnostʹ) — the quality of being fond
  • Russian: любо́вь (ljubóvʹ) — the quality of being fond
  • Russian: привя́занность (privjázannostʹ) — the quality of being fond
  • Scottish Gaelic: dèidh — the quality of being fond
  • Spanish: apego — the quality of being fond
  • Spanish: querencia — the quality of being fond
  • Ukrainian: любо́в (ljubóv) — the quality of being fond
  • Ukrainian: ні́жність (nížnistʹ) — the quality of being fond