limerence

• limerance

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.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪməɹəns/

• Audio (US):

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limerence (countable and uncountable, plural limerences)

1. (psychology) An involuntary romantic infatuation with another person, especially combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated. [from 20th c.]

   Antonym: nonlimerence

   • [1977 September 11, Dorothy Tennov, The Observer:

     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.]

   • 2003 December 14, Andrew G Marshall, “That crazy little thing called love”, in The Observer‎^[1]:

     When someone is under the spell of limerence, not even being rejected dampens down the madness.

   • 2010, Alyson Schafer, Breaking the Good mom Myth:

     But limerence, lovely as it feels, is a time-limited event—it lasts about five years for most couples.

   • 2024 January 27, Amanda McCracken, “Is It a Crush or Have You Fallen Into Limerence?”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     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.

   • 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^[3], archived from the original on 20 September 2025:

     I hadn't had much interest in limerence until I developed limerence when I didn't want to, when I was happily married.

   • 2025 November 29, Nicole Madigan, quoting Sam Shpall, “‘Desire in one of its rawest forms’: what do we know about limerence?”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     “[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 …

• limerence on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Borrowed from English limerence.

limerence f (plural limerences)

1. (psychology, rare) limerence (state of mind caused by a romantic attraction)

   Synonym: enfatuação