Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity.
- adj. Relating to or indicative of one's deepest nature: intimate prayers.
- adj. Essential; innermost: the intimate structure of matter.
- adj. Marked by informality and privacy: an intimate nightclub.
- adj. Very personal; private: an intimate letter.
- adj. Of or involved in a sexual relationship.
- n. A close friend or confidant.
- v. To make known subtly and indirectly; hint. See Synonyms at suggest.
- v. To announce; proclaim.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make known, especially in a formal manner; announce.
- Specifically, to make known by indirect means or words; hint or suggest; indicate; point out.
- Synonyms Suggest, Insinuate, etc. See hint, transitive verb
- Inner; inmost; intrinsic; pertaining to minute details or particulars: as, the intimate structure of an organism; the intimate principles of a science.
- Pertaining to the inmost mind; existing in one's inner thoughts or feelings; inward: as, intimate convictions or beliefs; intimate knowledge of a subject.
- Closely approximating or coalescing; near; familiar: as, intimate relation of parts; intimate union of particles; intimate intercourse.
- Close in friendship or acquaintance; on very familiar terms; not reserved or distant.
- Familiarly associated: personal.
- n. A familiar friend, companion, or guest; one who has close social relations with another or others.
Wiktionary
- adj. Closely acquainted; familiar.
- adj. Of or involved in a sexual relationship.
- adj. Personal, private.
- n. A very close friend.
- n. Women's underwear, sleepwear, or lingerie, especially offered for sale in a store.
- v. transitive To suggest or disclose discreetly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Innermost; inward; internal; deep-seated; hearty.
- adj. Near; close; direct; thorough; complete.
- adj. Close in friendship or acquaintance; familiar; confidential.
- n. An intimate friend or associate; a confidant.
- v. obsolete To announce; to declare; to publish; to communicate; to make known.
- v. To suggest obscurely or indirectly; to refer to remotely; to give slight notice of; to hint.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere
- v. give to understand
- adj. thoroughly acquainted through study or experience
- n. someone to whom private matters are confided
- adj. innermost or essential
- v. imply as a possibility
- adj. marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity
- adj. involved in a sexual relationship
- adj. having mutual interests or affections; of established friendship
Etymologies
- From Latin intimare ("to put or bring into, to impress, to make familiar"), from intimus ("inmost, innermost, most intimate"), superlative of intus ("within"), from in ("in"); see interior. (Wiktionary)
- Latin intimātus, past participle of intimāre, to make familiar with; see intimate2.Latin intimāre, intimāt-, to make known, from intimus, innermost; see en in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It's an *intimate* story, not an epic story--so it should be set in an intimate landscape, not a New Zealand-style Middle Earth landscape.”
“And yet, the very fact that these bloggers have a community with which to share the bad things is a measure of the reality that the meaning of the word intimate has been redefined.”
“And yet you seem to support the enablement of racist acts when the exercise of what you characterize as intimate or expressive rights constitutes a racist act.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » “Activist Government” and the Rights of Minorities
“So while a character on "The Big Bang Theory" is allowed to say the word "intimate," the subtitles only showed "int-----.”
“The U.S. Department of Justice does track homicides involving what it calls intimate partners.”
“Most people are happy to share what you describe as intimate details with a certain set of othr people, just not with everyone.”
“..when the exercise of what you characterize as intimate or expressive rights...”
The Volokh Conspiracy » “Activist Government” and the Rights of Minorities
“Too long had he, and the generations before him, lived in intimate relationship with the two-legged gods.”
“There had never been a time when he had not been in intimate relationship with machines.”
“Like spending too much time with one person in intimate contact, too much time with yourself can lead you to be driven insane by all your little annoying habits.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘intimate’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Words
phantasmagoria, eviscerate, avast, simulacrum, varicose, oblique, gestalt, ersatz, vernal, vivace, stellate, synecdoche and 330 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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the author [suggests] adjectives
allude to, refer to, hint, insinuate, intimate, present, prompt, inspire, advise, notes, proposes, suggests and 42 more...
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Words of Beauty
the images
iridescent, void, vacuum, rapture, chaos, melancholy, somnambulant, ethereal, somnolescent, caress, intimate, mellifluous and 13 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
unfathomably, glice, cuh, fab, ciggaty, doll, thuggin, oxymoronic, pineapple, succubutt, griming, cheeky and 3027 more... -
Bi-sonics
Allophonic homographs. Words that are pronounced at least 2 ways, having different senses. 'august' and 'polish' are less ambiguous since capitalization make the correct pronunciation clear (at lea...
sow, row, dove, polish, precedent, rewet, lower, read, bass, patent, primer, tear and 102 more...
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GRE AWA
escalating, vehement, vehemence, hostility, paparazzi, regime, irrespective, scoop, exaggerated, overblown, unfetter, scrupulous and 272 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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My Revised GRE Preparation List
Words from the new GRE : This list consists mostly of words from the book Magoosh-GRE-vocab-ebook, which is one of the best vocab materials available, especially if you have started preparing one ...
alacrity, prosaic, veracity, paucity, contrite, trite, maintain, laconic, pugnacious, disparate, egregious, innocuous and 533 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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kmalladi's favorites
edification, penchant, ablution, extricate, frank, triumvirate, trifecta, egregious, hoi polloi, articulate, antediluvian, brusque and 291 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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strieale's Words
scientism, chronological, christophobia, subsurface, high culture, jeffersonian demo..., jacksonian democracy, incommensurable, rebuttal, discerning, disparate, anodyne and 156 more...
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NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
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A spoonful of sugar
Words I should learn/I want to learn/I just learned, with a quotation to help the medicine go down.
approbation, assuage, chicanery, abscond, effrontery, enervation, equivocate, ennui, aftertaste, filibuster, perfunctory, abide and 391 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for intimate.

bilby Not sure what your DEADBEEF is ian. This comment page is where Vordnik users can add examples and that's what you've just done. The intimate word page, like those for other words, is automatically generated from databases. The examples there certainly do contain intimate. Jan 21, 2010
ianweniger Here's a sentence to consider adding to the example page:
intimate (verb)
The school principal intimated to a teacher who was about to take the stage at the assembly that she had a big piece of snot stuck to her shirt.
Jan 20, 2010
chained_bear I've noticed that on quite a number of word pages, but not this one. I wonder if a better place to post it is on feedback's profile...? Jan 20, 2010
ianweniger Several example sentences for 'intimate' do not contain the word at all. Please edit this page soon! Jan 20, 2010
oroboros I will intimate to my intimate.
Jan 3, 2010