(intimating, intimated)
1.
If you have an intimate friendship with someone, you know them very well and like them a lot.
I discussed with my intimate friends whether I would immediately have a baby.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
• intimately
He did not feel he had got to know them intimately.
ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed
2.
If two people are in an intimate relationship, they are involved with each other in a loving or sexual way.
...their intimate moments with their boyfriends.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
• intimately
You have to be willing to get to know yourself and your partner intimately.
ADV: ADV after v
3.
An intimate conversation or detail, for example, is very personal and private.
He wrote about the intimate details of his family life...
= private
ADJ: usu ADJ n
• intimately
It was the first time they had attempted to talk intimately.
ADV: ADV after v
4.
If you use intimate to describe an occasion or the atmosphere of a place, you like it because it is quiet and pleasant, and seems suitable for close conversations between friends.
...an intimate candlelit dinner for two.
ADJ: usu ADJ n [approval]
5.
An intimate connection between ideas or organizations, for example, is a very strong link between them.
...an intimate connection between madness and wisdom...
ADJ: usu ADJ n
• intimately
Property and equities are intimately connected in Hong Kong.
ADV: ADV after v
6.
An intimate knowledge of something is a deep and detailed knowledge of it.
He surprised me with his intimate knowledge of Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer.
= thorough
ADJ: usu ADJ n
• intimately
...a golden age of musicians whose work she knew intimately.
ADV: usu ADV after v
7.
If you intimate something, you say it in an indirect way. (FORMAL)
He went on to intimate that he was indeed contemplating a shake-up of the company...
He had intimated to the French and Russians his readiness to come to a settlement.
= hint
VERB: V that, V to n n, also V n