infatuate
- Verb:
- To inspire with an intense, often foolish, and usually short-lived passion or enthusiasm that overrides reason and judgment.
- To cause someone to be so obsessed with a feeling or idea that they act irrationally.
The verb "infatuate" is transitive, meaning it requires a direct object (the person who becomes infatuated). It is most commonly used in the passive voice ("to be infatuated with/by") to describe the state of the person affected. The active voice ("X infatuates Y") is less common but grammatically correct.
Active Voice:
- The glamour of fame can infatuate young artists.
- Her beauty completely infatuated him, clouding his judgment.
Passive Voice (more common):
- He was infatuated with the idea of becoming a movie star.
- She is infatuated by her new colleague and talks about him constantly.
"to be infatuated with": This is the standard prepositional phrase used to indicate the object of the infatuation (a person, idea, or thing).
- The poet was infatuated with the concept of eternal youth.
Historical/Literary Use: In older texts, "infatuate" could sometimes be used as an adjective meaning "foolish" or "deprived of reason," though this usage is now archaic.
- "Infatuate, doating earl..." (from John Milton's *Paradise Lost).*
Infatuation (noun): The state of being infatuated; a foolish, intense, and usually short-lived passion.
- His infatuation with vintage cars lasted only a few months.
Infatuated (adjective): Describing someone who is affected by infatuation.
- The infatuated teenager wrote love poems every day.
- Bewitch: To enchant, sometimes to the point of obsession.
- Enamor: To fill with love and delight (often used as "be/become enamored of/with").
- Captivate: To attract and hold interest, though with less implication of foolishness.
- Obsess: To preoccupy the mind excessively (broader, not exclusively romantic).
- Disenchant: To free from illusion or false belief.
- Repel: To cause aversion or distaste.
- Temporary Nature: Infatuation is typically distinguished from lasting love by its intensity and brevity. It is often based on superficial attraction or an idealized image.
- Irrationality: A key component of being infatuated is a temporary loss of sensible judgment or perspective regarding the object of affection.
- arouse unreasoning love or passion in and cause to behave in an irrational way
- His new car has infatuated him
- love has infatuated her