Words / D / General

dalliance

noun/ˈdæliəns/

C2CEFR level
70/100Rarity: rare
LiteraryRegister

A brief and casual romantic or sexual relationship.

What began as a summer dalliance surprised them both by deepening into something lasting.

Similar: fling, affair

Origin: From Middle English dalien 'to chat idly, flirt'.

Topic: courtship in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: courtship