limerence
nounUK /ˈlɪməɹəns/
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.
1
Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences An involuntary romantic infatuation with another person, especially combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated.
- 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.[1977 September 11, Dorothy Tennov, The Observer:
- When someone is under the spell of limerence, not even being rejected dampens down the madness.2003 December 14, Andrew G Marshall, “That crazy little thing called love”, in The Observer:
4 more examples
- But limerence, lovely as it feels, is a time-limited event—it lasts about five years for most couples.2010, Alyson Schafer, Breaking the Good mom Myth:
- 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.2024 January 27, Amanda McCracken, “Is It a Crush or Have You Fallen Into Limerence?”, in The New York Times:
- I hadn't had much interest in limerence until I developed limerence when I didn't want to, when I was happily married.2025 September 20, Marielle Segarra, Clare Marie Schneider, Malaka Gharib, quoting Tom Bellamy, “A neuroscientist explains how to break free from romantic infatuation”, in NPR, archived from the original on 20 Sep 2025:
- “[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 …2025 November 29, Nicole Madigan, quoting Sam Shpall, “‘Desire in one of its rawest forms’: what do we know about limerence?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- Derived terms
- limerent, nonlimerent
- Hypernyms
- besottedness, enamorment, enamourment, infatuation, love
- Hyponyms
- codependence
- Coordinate terms
- crush, unrequited love
- Meronyms
- dependence, obsession, parasociality