intimate
//ˈɪn.tɪ.mət//
Forms
- Comparative
- more intimate
- Superlative
- most intimate
- Plural
- intimates
- present (v1)
- intimate
- past (v2)
- intimated
- past participle (v3)
- intimated
- present participle
- intimating
- 3rd person singular
- intimates
Definitions
1.Closely acquainted; familiar.
- He and his sister deeply valued their intimate relationship as they didn't have much else to live for.
2.Personal; private.
3.Pertaining to sex organs or underwear.
- 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.
4.Pertaining to sexual acts or a sexual relationship.
- She enjoyed some intimate time alone with her husband.
1.A very close friend.
- Only a couple of intimates had ever read his writing.
2.Women's underwear, sleepwear, or lingerie, especially offered for sale in a store.
- You'll find bras and panties in the intimates section upstairs.
1.To suggest or disclose (something) discreetly.
- He intimated that we should leave before the argument escalated.
- 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.
- 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.
2.To notify.
- I will intimate you when the details are available.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4804
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin intimātus, the perfect passive participle of intimō (“to put or bring into, to impress, to make familiar”) (see -ate (adjective forming suffix))
From intimus (“inmost, innermost, most intimate”), superlative of intus (“within”)
From in (“in”); see interior.