Word of the Day - 02/18/26
limerence
/ˈlɪmərəns/(n.): an involuntary romantic infatuation with another person, especially combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated
His limerence for Sarah was so intense that he replayed their every interaction, constantly seeking signs of her reciprocal affection.
Word Origin
The term 'limerence' was coined in 1979 by American psychologist Dorothy Tennov in her book 'Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love'. Tennov explicitly stated that she "purposely constructed [the term] to have no etymology whatever," meaning it was created without direct roots in Latin, Greek, or other established languages. It is an English neologism designed to describe an involuntary state of mind that features a powerful longing for emotional reciprocation from a specific object of affection, obsessional thinking, and intrusive fantasies.