Infatuation is a powerful, often short-lived intense attraction or admiration for someone, marked by obsessive thoughts and idealization. It typically arises quickly, coloring judgments and emotions, but may fade as reality becomes clearer. It sits between casual interest and love, driven by novelty, excitement, and fantasy rather than deep, sustained attachment.
US: r-colored? Not relevant here. US vowel: /ɪ/ in first, /æ/ in second; UK: /ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən/ with crisper /t/; AU: similar to UK but with broader /æ/ and a more relaxed /ɪ/. IPA references: /ɪnˌfæ.tjʊˈeɪ.ʃən/ vs /ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən/; vowels are slightly tenser in US; non-rhotic UK; Australian shifts toward /ə/ in unstressed vowels. Use listening to native speech to tune vowels.
"Her infatuation with the musician faded after she learned more about his personality."
"The novel portrays a classroom crush that blossoms into a superficial infatuation rather than lasting affection."
"He spoke about his infatuation as if it were a defining phase of his youth."
"Their infatuation blinded them to red flags until the relationship fell apart."
Infatuation comes from the Latin infatuatus, past participle of infatuare, meaning ‘to make foolish or extravagant in mind.’ The Latin root fatua/ fatrua relates to foolishness or folly. In English, infatuation entered in the 14th–16th centuries via Old French or directly from Latin, carrying the sense of being made foolish or credulous by admiration. The word evolved to describe an overwhelming but often short-lived attraction that clouds judgment, not a deep, enduring bond. The pronunciation and stress established in early Modern English continue to shape contemporary use, where infatuation frequently coexists with notions of intense, temporary fancy rather than mature, lasting love. Over time, writers have used infatuation to distinguish between mere attraction and a more consuming, idealized fixation, a nuance that remains central to its modern connotation.
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Words that rhyme with "Infatuation"
-ion sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Say in-fæt-yu-ˈeɪ-ʃən. Primary stress is on the third syllable: infat-u-A-tion, with the main vowel sounds: /ɪ/ in the first, /æ/ in the second, /j/ as a consonant before /u/ in the third, and /eɪ/ in the fourth syllable, followed by /ʃən/. IPA: US ɪnˌfæ.tjuˈeɪ.ʃən; UK ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən; AU ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən.
Common mistakes: (1) Dropping the /j/ before the /u/ in -tu- as in infat-u-ation; (2) Misplacing stress, often stressing the first or second syllable instead of the long -eɪ- in -eɪ-ʃən; (3) pronouncing the /æ/ as /eɪ/ or /ʌ/. Correction: keep the /t/ + /j/ sequence as /tj/ before /u/ (soft palate glide), stress the ♪eɪ♪ in the fourth syllable, and treat the final -tion as /ʃən/. IPA references: /ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən/.
US: /ɪnˌfæ.tjuˈeɪ.ʃən/ with rhotic 'r-less? no r here; UK: /ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən/ with clearer */j/* and slightly tighter vowels; AU: /ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən/ similar to UK but with broader vowels and a more centralized /ɪ/. All share the -ju- glide before /eɪ/. Awareness of non-rhotic tendencies in UK; rhoticity is less relevant here as it’s not r-colored.
The difficulty stems from: (1) the two- or three-step glide sequence in -tu- that transitions into -eɪ-; (2) the syllable stress pattern: the main stress lands on the third-to-last syllable, which can be tricky if you’re not keeping track of syllable counts; (3) the final /ʃən/ cluster, where the tongue presses to produce a clean 'sh' followed by a weak syllable. IPA helps: /ɪnˌfæt.juˈeɪ.ʃən/.
A distinctive feature is the -tu- cluster: the /tj/ sequence involves a subtle tongue contact and a brief y-glide into the /ju/ sound before the /eɪ/ vowel. Keeping the glide crisp rather than turning into a pure /u/ helps preserve the correct rhythm. Practicing with a slowed tempo and hearing the /tj/ as a light, rapid transition will improve accuracy.
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