The term “limerence" has been around since the 1970s, but it’s been gaining traction lately, so if you haven’t heard of it yet, you likely will. Although it’s easy to think of limerence as a big crush ...

Limerence is a term you may not be familiar with. It describes an involuntary, uncontrollable and obsessive desire for another person. This fixation can lead to significant distress, disrupting daily ...

Is it love or limerence? Limerence refers to a state of attraction marked by intense longing, sometimes described as obsession. It goes deeper than a simple crush and can involve intrusive thoughts, ...

It’s the lim-bo of love. Sure, nursing a crush on a cute coworker, a smoking hot schoolmate or the gym dreamboat is sweet. But that taste for the apple of your eye can quickly turn into a sour ...

Limerence is often mistaken for love because it carries emotional intensity without emotional grounding. It feels urgent, consuming, and meaningful, even when there is little real relational contact.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about relationships, personality, and everyday psychology. “Limerence” in a relationship refers to a situation where ...

Daydreaming about your future wedding, doodling someone’s name in your notebook, and making googly eyes at a person is totally normal. At first glance, all of these practices define a healthy, ...

For most of my adolescent and adult dating life, I longed, sometimes obsessively, for someone to want me back. I would waste time and energy fantasizing about relationships with men who I inexplicably ...

This is a story that starts with you, in kindergarten, placing your mat next to the boy you like at nap time. When you get to sixth grade, you cross your fingers under your seat—hoping to see his name ...

We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we love. Promise. Why? Because you’re not in a logical space. You’re not even healthily hopeful about a new romance.

Though limerence—a.k.a. obsessive longing—has become a sort of buzzword recently, it’s actually a pretty well-worn concept; there are endless literary examples of weepy protagonists investing way too ...