Meanings
verbfondle (third-person singular simple present fondles, present participle fondling, simple past and past participle fondled)
present singular third person fondles · participle present fondling · participle past fondled · past fondled
nounfondle (plural fondles)
plural fondles
- A caress.
I gave the sleeping dog's ears a fondle as I walked past.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo grasp.
Broader
More synonyms by meaning
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From fond (“love, admire”) + -le (frequentative suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic لَاطَفَ, رَبَتَ
- لَاطَفَ (lāṭafa)to touch or stroke lovingly
- رَبَتَ (rabata)to touch or stroke lovingly
Bulgarian милвам, галя
- милвам (milvam)to touch or stroke lovingly
- галя (galja)to touch or stroke lovingly
Catalan acaronar, acariciar
- acaronarto touch or stroke lovingly
- acariciarto touch or stroke lovingly
Chinese Mandarin 愛撫 /爱抚
- 愛撫 /爱抚 (àifǔ)to touch or stroke lovingly
Czech laskat
- laskatto touch or stroke lovingly
Dutch liefkozen
- liefkozento touch or stroke lovingly
Esperanto karesi
- karesito touch or stroke lovingly
Finnish hyväillä, kosketella
- hyväilläto touch or stroke lovingly
- kosketellato touch or stroke lovingly
French caresser
- caresserto touch or stroke lovingly
German liebkosen, kosen
- liebkosento touch or stroke lovingly
- kosento touch or stroke lovingly
Irish muirnigh
- muirnighto touch or stroke lovingly
Italian accarezzare, avvinghiarsi
- accarezzareto touch or stroke lovingly
- avvinghiarsito touch or stroke lovingly
Japanese 愛撫する, 可愛がる
- 愛撫する (aibu suru)to touch or stroke lovingly
- 可愛がる (kawaigaru)to touch or stroke lovingly
Korean 어르다
- 어르다 (eoreuda)to touch or stroke lovingly
Latin subigitō, contrectō
- subigitōto touch or stroke lovingly
- contrectōto touch or stroke lovingly
Māori mori, takamori
- morito touch or stroke lovingly
- takamorito touch or stroke lovingly
- whakatākohekoheto touch or stroke lovingly
Portuguese acariciar
- acariciarto touch or stroke lovingly
Romanian dezmierda, mângâia
- dezmierdato touch or stroke lovingly
- mângâiato touch or stroke lovingly
Russian ласка́ть, гла́дить
- ласка́ть (laskátʹ)to touch or stroke lovingly
- гла́дить (gláditʹ)to touch or stroke lovingly
- ти́скать (tískatʹ)to touch or stroke lovingly
Spanish acariciar, franelear
- acariciarto touch or stroke lovingly
- franelearto touch or stroke lovingly
- cachondearto touch or stroke lovingly
Swedish smeka, kela med
- smekato touch or stroke lovingly
- kela medto touch or stroke lovingly
Turkish okşamak
- okşamakto touch or stroke lovingly
Welsh llochi
- llochito touch or stroke lovingly
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
fondle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fondle
MLA
“fondle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fondle. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fondle,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fondle.
Source: fondle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.