limerence
/ˈlɪməɹəns/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.41 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An involuntary romantic infatuation with another person, especially combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "I first used the term ‘amorance’ then changed it back to ‘limerence’ […]. It has no roots whatsoever. It looks nice. It works well in French. Take it from me it has no etymology whatsoever."
- "When someone is under the spell of limerence, not even being rejected dampens down the madness."
- "But limerence, lovely as it feels, is a time-limited event—it lasts about five years for most couples."
- "Limerence is a state of overwhelming and unexpected longing for emotional reciprocation from another human, known as a limerent object (LO), who is often perceived as perfect but unavailable."
- "I hadn't had much interest in limerence until I developed limerence when I didn't want to, when I was happily married."
- "“[Dorothy] Tennov rejected the view that limerence is inherently unhealthy,” he says. “It’s a distinctive form of human longing, transformative and sometimes destabilising, yes, but not necessarily bad …"
Etymology
From limer- (“a coined, arbitrary first element”) + -ence. Coined by American psychologist Dorothy Tennov in 1977 as an arbitrary euphonious replacement or alteration of the word amorance.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈlɪməɹəns/