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

Recent Examples on the Web

This eventually led me to his infatuation with Alice Pleasance Liddell. —Allan Kozinn, New York Times, 18 Nov. 2023

Snyder’s infatuation with QB Dwayne Haskins argued against his football men investing the No. 2 pick in a quarterback. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2023

Our readers’ infatuation with the Continental had only just begun, and because the world loves a convertible, the Continental GTC took Car of the Year honors in 2007, the model’s first year on the market as a drop-top. —Robert Ross, Robb Report, 25 Sep. 2023

The impact of Son’s infatuation with WeWork and other startups was magnified by the initial $60 billion committed by the Saudi and Abu Dhabi wealth funds to the first Vision Fund. —Min Jeong Lee, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2023

But the Chinese infatuation with it poses a threat to future economic prospects. —Yasheng Huang, Foreign Affairs, 25 Sep. 2023

But when new prisoner Casey White is brought to her facility, the two develop a secret infatuation. —William Thornton | [e-mail], al, 14 Sep. 2023

One afternoon, around a year after my father’s death, my mother had enough of my infatuation with dark tales. —Mikal Gilmore, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2023

Even the implicit connection between fandom and romantic infatuation set up by the title seems underdeveloped. —Cat Zhang, Washington Post, 1 Sep. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1648, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing infatuation

• self-infatuation

• self-infatuation