Eros
noun /ˈɪərɒs/ — The passionate, erotic love — desire in its most intense form.
Definition
In classical philosophy and psychology, the force of love and desire — particularly sexual and romantic attraction in its most intense, urgent form. The root of 'erotic' and the name of the winged god of love in Greek mythology.
Beyond the definition
Ancient philosophers distinguished multiple kinds of love — eros, philia, agape, storge. Eros is the first, the most urgent: the love that arrives as electricity, that bypasses reason, that has been causing both ecstasy and disaster since the beginning of recorded thought.
Origin & history
Greek 'eros' — love, desire. Named after the god Eros (son of Aphrodite), known to the Romans as Cupid. Freud used the term to describe the life instinct — the drive toward connection, creation, and vitality.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
What began as eros deepened over years into something quieter and more durable.
Plato argued that eros, properly directed, could lead the soul toward truth.
The eros between them was immediate and overwhelming — and neither was prepared for what followed.
Synonyms
erotic love, passionate desire, romantic love
Antonyms
agape, indifference
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Anticipation of a secret meeting
An adult stands in the shadowed corner of a moonlit garden, waiting with a tense, expectant posture for someone.
The hidden, urgent, and intense nature of the secret meeting reflects the driving force of eros. It portrays the urgent, romantic desire that seeks the other and thrives on the intensity of the connection, even in the shadows of the garden.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration