noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A caress.

   "I gave the sleeping dog's ears a fondle as I walked past."

Verb

1. 1
   To touch or stroke lovingly. transitive

   "Mothers fondle their babies."

2. 2
   touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner wordnet
3. 3
   To grasp. transitive

   "The lovers fondled each other."

Synonyms

All synonyms

caresscaressdandlegrabblepettouch up

Example

More examples

"If you leave, I'll tell all the world you fondle me while I sleep."

Etymology

From fond (“love, admire”) + -le (frequentative suffix).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.