love-hate
/ˌlʌvˈheɪt/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.03 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a relationship: involving feelings of both love and hate, often simultaneously.
Example Sentences
- "The krogan have had a love-hate relationship with varren for millennia, alternately fighting them for territory and embracing them as treasured companions."
- "I loathe reviews in which a critic claims to have love-hate feelings about a work of art. It’s a way of having no opinion at all. But I love and hate “Taipei.”"
- "Still, the movie [Ralph Breaks the Internet] manages to locate some gentle satire in our culture's love-hate relationship with the internet. At one point, Ralph must attain a certain level of viral popularity, assisted by the BuzzFeed-esque content guru Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), and the movie is savvy about how accidental spikes in fame can turn into cynical algorithm manipulation."
- "[…]Eric got to act out his resentment while also hating himself, really love-hating himself, and he got to do it while masquerading as a warrior for the less fortunate!"
Etymology
The adjective is a calque of German Liebe-Hass (now more commonly Hassliebe (“love-hate relationship”)), from Liebe (“love; relationship of love”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love”)) + Hass (“hate; hatred”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂d- (“anger; hatred”)). The verb is derived from the adjective.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *lewbʰ-, *keh₂d-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌlʌvˈheɪt/
- British English: /ˌlʌvˈheɪt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
love/hate (alternative, uncommon)
love-hates (present, singular)
love-hating (participle, present)
love-hated (participle, past)
love-hated (past)