Meanings
fondling1
plural fondlings
- obsoleteA foolish person.
'How can you say I am harsh, you naughty fondling?' cried the mistress, amazed at the unreasonable assertion.
1847, Emily Brontë, chapter 10, in Wuthering Heights, volume I1 more example
Yet were her words and lookes but false and fayned, / To some hid end to make more easie way, / Or to allure such fondlings whom she trayned / Into her trap […].
1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - A pet or person who is fondled; someone who is much loved.
fondling2
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of fondle
plural fondlings
- The act of caressing; manifestation of tenderness.
amorous fondling
1835, Emma Whitehead, Pierce Falcon, the Outcast
Synonyms & antonyms
nounaffectionate play (or foreplay without contact with the genital organs)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian любимец, галеник
- любимец (ljubimec)a pet or person
- галеник (galenik)a pet or person
Irish dalta
- daltaa pet or person
Russian люби́мец, люби́мица
- люби́мец (ljubímec)a pet or person
- люби́мица (ljubímica)a pet or person
Cite this entry
fondling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fondling
“fondling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fondling. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fondling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fondling.
Source: fondling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.