fond
/fɒnd
/adjective
1 (fond of) Having an affection or liking for: I’m very fond of Mel he was not too fond of dancing...
- The dead, as he is very fond of saying, don't care.
- She had grown rather fond of the European drink and found it to be relaxing to sit and sip.
- But over the years as he matured, she grew quite fond of him.
Synonyms
keen on, partial to, addicted to, enthusiastic about, passionate about;
attached to, attracted to, enamoured of, in love with, with a soft spot for
informal into, hooked on, gone on, wild about, nuts about, potty about, dotty about, crazy about, sweet on, struck on
1.1 [attributive] Affectionate; loving: I have very fond memories of Oxford a fond farewell...
- Do you have any especially fond memories of those times that you might share?
- He served from 1929 to 1955, leaving behind a legacy of material treasures as well as fond memories.
- Believe it or don't, but Levine seems to have some pretty fond memories from his visits.
Synonyms
adoring, devoted, doting, loving, caring, affectionate, warm, tender, kind, attentive, solicitous;
indulgent, overindulgent, overfond
2 [attributive] (Of a hope or belief) foolishly optimistic; naive.That fond hope never materialised and there was no reason to suppose it would....
- Even in defeat, he sees success and vows to contest again with the fond hope that he will emerge a victor one day.
- In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.
Synonyms
unrealistic, naive, foolish, foolishly optimistic, over-optimistic, deluded, delusory, absurd, empty, vain
rare Panglossian
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'infatuated, foolish'): from obsolete fon 'a fool, be foolish', of unknown origin. Compare with fun.
The root of both fond and fun is the medieval word fon, which meant ‘a fool’. Fond originally meant ‘foolish, silly’, or ‘mad’, and did not acquire the modern sense ‘affectionate’ until the end of the 16th century—Shakespeare appears to have been the first to use ‘fond of’, in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Someone you are fond of came to be called a fondling in the mid 17th century. The word may have fallen out of use, but lives on in to fondle, formed from fondling in the late 17th century.
Rhymes
- electrocution
- electrocyclic
- electrocyte
- electrode
- electrodeless
- electrodeposit
- electrodeposited
- electrodeposition
- electrodepositor
- electrode potential
- electrodermal
- electrodesiccation
- electrodiagnosis
- electrodiagnostic
- electrodialysis
- electrodynamic
- electrodynamical
- electrodynamically
- electrodynamics
- electrodynamism
- electrodynamometer
- electroejaculation
- electroencephalogram
- electroencephalograph
- electroencephalographer