loving
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of loving
First recorded before 1000; Middle English lovyng; replacing Middle English lovende, Old English lufiende; see love, -ing 2
Explanation
Someone loving is affectionate and caring. Your loving grandmother might be your favorite grandparent because she clearly adores you. You can be a loving sister or a loving babysitter, and you can also describe kind things you do as loving, like the loving hug you give your sad friend or your uncle's loving gesture of sending your aunt flowers on her birthday. The adjective loving comes from the Old English lufian, "to love or approve," from the root lufu, "love, affection, or friendliness."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Loving animal prints, from what I understand, is a predestined disposition for Leo women.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2026
After topping the charts at home and abroad with her monster hit "Man I Need" and lauded album "The Art of Loving", the 26-year-old dominated the star-studded awards ceremony at the city's Co-op Live arena.
From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026
Loving and patient, she was often overwhelmed by her family duties.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
Elsewhere in the charts, Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving has become the longest-running number one album by a British female this decade, according to the Official Charts Company.
From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026
Loving Shakespeare as she did, she felt as “an archeologist would have, when he suddenly realized after years of digging that he was inside the tomb of a great pharaoh.”
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
