Attachment.
Synonyms:
| adherence, | devotion, | friendship, | regard, |
| adhesion, | esteem, | inclination, | tenderness, |
| affection, | estimation, | love, | union. |
An attachment is a feeling that binds a person by ties of heart to another person or thing; we speak of a man's adherence to his purpose, his adhesion to his party, or to anything to which he clings tenaciously, tho with no special tenderness; of his attachment to his church, to the old homestead, or to any persons or objects that he may hold dear. Affection expresses more warmth of feeling; we should not speak of a mother's attachment to her babe, but of her affection or of her devotion. Inclination expresses simply a tendency, which may be good or bad, yielded to or overcome; as, an inclination to study; an inclination to drink. Regard is more distant than affection or attachment, but closer and warmer than esteem; we speak of high esteem, kind regard. Compare ACQUAINTANCE; APPENDAGE; FRIENDSHIP; LOVE; UNION.
Antonyms:
| alienation, | aversion, | distance, | estrangement, | repugnance, |
| animosity, | coolness, | divorce, | indifference, | separation, |
| antipathy, | dislike, | enmity, | opposition, | severance. |
Prepositions:
Attachment of a true man to his friends; attachment to a leader for his nobility of character; the attachments between two persons or things; attachment by muscular fibers, or by a rope, etc.