intimate
English
Pronunciation
Adjective, noun
- enPR: ĭn'tĭmət, IPA(key): /ˈɪn.tɪ.mət/Category:English 3-syllable words#INTIMATECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#INTIMATE
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#INTIMATEAudio (US): (file)
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#INTIMATEAudio (US): (file)
Verb
Etymology 1
Borrowed from LatinCategory:English terms borrowed from Latin#INTIMATECategory:English terms derived from Latin#INTIMATE intimātus, the perfect passive participle of intimō (“to put or bring into, to impress, to make familiar”) (see -ate (adjective forming suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -ate (adjective)#INTIMATE), from intimus (“inmost, innermost, most intimate”), superlative of intus (“within”), from in (“in”); see interior.
Adjective
intimate (comparative more intimate, superlative most intimate)Category:English lemmas#INTIMATECategory:English adjectives#INTIMATECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
- Closely acquainted; familiar.
- Synonym: thick (informal)
- an intimate friendCategory:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- He and his sister deeply valued their intimate relationship as they didn't have much else to live for.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- Personal; private.
- an intimate settingCategory:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- (euphemisticCategory:English euphemisms#INTIMATE) Pertaining to sex organs or underwear.
- 2017 [2014], Elizabeth K. Briody, Ken C. Erickson, “Success despite the silos: System-wide innovation and collaboration”, in Maryann McCabe, editor, Collaborative Ethnography in Business Environments, Routledge, page 37:
- Intimate apparel departments have separate sections for bras and panties; within those sections, our intimate apparel firm would have its bras displayed separately from its panties.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- (euphemisticCategory:English euphemisms#INTIMATE) Pertaining to sexual acts or a sexual relationship.
- She enjoyed some intimate time alone with her husband.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- 2011 October 28, Kevin Underhill, “Shape-Shifting Donkey Prostitute Strikes Again”, in Lowering the Bar, archived from the original on 16 December 2022:
- The man, who had been arrested for being intimate with a donkey, admitted the conduct in question but claimed that the donkey had not been a donkey when he met her at a nightclub last Saturday night, but rather a prostitute.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- Pertaining to details that require great familiarity to know.
- The candidate showed an intimate knowledge of the inner workings of politics.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- 2015, Slawomir Pikula, Joanna Bandorowicz-Pikula, Patrick Groves, “NMR of lipids”, in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, volume 44, Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, →ISSN, page 391:
- Grélard et al.87 determined the intimate structure of pseudoviral particles of hepatitis B subvirus using solid-state NMR, light scattering, and cryo-electron microscopy.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- Very finely mixed.
- Black powder consists of an intimate mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From a substantivization of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -ate (substantive)#INTIMATE and Etymology 1 for more.
Noun
intimate (plural intimates)Category:English lemmas#INTIMATECategory:English nouns#INTIMATECategory:English countable nouns#INTIMATECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
- A very close friend.
- Synonyms: bosom buddy, bosom friend, cater-cousin
- Only a couple of intimates had ever read his writing.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- (in the plural intimates) Women's underwear, sleepwear, or lingerie, especially offered for sale in a store.
- Synonym: intimate apparel
- You'll find bras and panties in the intimates section upstairs.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
Translations
Etymology 3
From LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#INTIMATE intimātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix)Category:English terms suffixed with -ate (verb)#INTIMATE and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French intimer.
Verb
intimate (third-person singular simple present intimates, present participle intimating, simple past and past participle intimated)Category:English lemmas#INTIMATECategory:English verbs#INTIMATECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
- (ambitransitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#INTIMATECategory:English intransitive verbs#INTIMATE) To suggest or disclose (something) discreetly.
- Synonym: hint
- He intimated that we should leave before the argument escalated.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
- 1625, [Samuel] Purchas, “A Diſcourſe of the Kingdome of China”, in Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], 3rd part, London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, § V, page 380:
- And ſince this Family, called Ciu, which now holdeth the Souereigntie, hath reigned, it is called Min [translating 明 (Míng)], which intimateth Splendour, and by vſuall addition of one ſyllable Ta-min [translating 大明 (Dàmíng)], that is, the Kingdome of Great Splendour, Brightneſſe or Glory.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- 1878, Henry James, An International Episode:
- One of our friends, nevertheless—the younger one—intimated that he felt a disposition to interrupt a few of these soft familiarities; but his companion observed, pertinently enough, that he had better be careful.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- 1936, Dale Carnegie, “Talk about your own mistakes first”, in How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 223:
- […] Von Bulow saved himself in time—but, canny diplomat that he was, he nevertheless had made one error: he should have begun by talking about his own shortcomings and Wilhelm's superiority—not by intimating that the Kaiser was a half-wit in need of a guardian.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- 1981, Robert Alter, “A Literary Approach to the Bible”, in The Art of Biblical Narrative, page 11:
- The thematic point of retaliation, as we have seen, is intimated in the biblical text, but without the suggestion that Judah himself is conscious of the connections.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- 2025 August 7, Jonathan Lemire, “Things Aren’t Going Donald Trump’s Way”, in The Atlantic:
- He feels deeply betrayed by his MAGA supporters who believed him when he intimated during the campaign that something was nefarious about the government’s handling of the [Epstein] case, and who now have a hard time believing him when he says their suspicions are actually bogus.Category:English terms with quotations#INTIMATE
- (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#INTIMATE, IndiaCategory:Indian English#INTIMATE) To notify.
- I will intimate you when the details are available.Category:English terms with usage examples#INTIMATE
Derived terms
Translations
Related terms
Further reading
- “intimate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “intimate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Anagrams
Category:English heteronyms#INTIMATECategory:English intransitive verbs#INTIMATEEsperanto
Adverb
intimateCategory:Esperanto non-lemma forms#INTIMATECategory:Esperanto participles#INTIMATECategory:Esperanto adverbial participles#INTIMATECategory:Esperanto entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
- present adverbial passive participle of intimiCategory:Esperanto adverbial participles#INTIMATE
Italian
Etymology 1
Verb
intimateCategory:Italian non-lemma forms#INTIMATECategory:Italian verb forms#INTIMATECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
- inflection of intimare:
Etymology 2
Participle
intimate f plCategory:Italian non-lemma forms#INTIMATECategory:Italian past participle forms#INTIMATECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
Anagrams
Latin
Verb
intimāteCategory:Latin non-lemma forms#INTIMATECategory:Latin verb forms#INTIMATECategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
Spanish
Verb
intimateCategory:Spanish non-lemma forms#INTIMATECategory:Spanish verb forms#INTIMATECategory:Spanish entries with incorrect language header#INTIMATECategory:Pages with entries#INTIMATECategory:Pages with 5 entries#INTIMATE
- second-person singular voseo imperative of intimar combined with te