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Glite Dictionary
to warm to

to warm to

8 4.9
Start to like someone or something more over time
  • phrasal verb
  • /wɔrm tu/
translation icon : sentir simpatía por
  • She's a little more into me than I'm into her, but I'm warming to her.
  • warm to the idea

I don't know if you warmed to it straight away.

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Examples

  • Prince Harry is more like his mother and he's probably the most popular member of the royal family at this moment in time because people warm to him.

    Princes of the Palace - The Royal British Family (2016)

  • "The old man was warming to the subject now."

    Fiction book (2002)

  • So he began to warm to the idea of dancing.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • - And he seems to be warming to the idea of the events like this one.

    Destination Love (2022)

  • Little Bill is warming to the subject, though, standing in front of the cell.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "No, I'm serious," I said, warming to the idea.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I've never seen her warm to anyone.

    Off Season (2019)

  • But then Toni began to warm to the idea a little.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • When he meets people they warm to him, not because he's a prince necessarily, but because of who he is as a person.

    Princes of the Palace - The Royal British Family (2016)

  • At first, she was hesitant, but over time she began to warm to the idea of joining the team.

Synonyms

to like
vsto warm to
∞ 1.0

To enjoy a person or thing

focuses on starting to feel enthusiasm rather than an already steady feeling
to warm up
vsto warm to
21 2.5

Become more friendly and relaxed around other people

refers to developing positive feelings or enthusiasm rather than just social openness
to cotton to
vsto warm to
  • UK
3 9.0

Start to like and accept someone or something

is more about growing enthusiasm rather than mere comfort

Antonyms

dislike
  • Texting
49 1.0

A feeling of not liking someone or something

indifferent
46 4.4

Not interested or showing no strong feeling about something

How Fond

to attach
239 2.9
to like
∞ 1.0
to warm to
8 4.9
to take to
107 3.8

Surface Forms

warm to infinitive

Morphology

warm + to

The sense 'to begin to like' is directly related to the adjective 'warm' (friendly, affectionate) with the preposition 'to' marking direction toward someone or something; the meaning is a natural inchoative/causative extension (become warm toward). However, this requires converting an adjective into a verb-like construction and recognizing the directional use of 'to', so although learners can often infer it, the pattern is not purely compositional for all learners.

Etymology

Warm to comes from the image of someone cold who slowly moves closer to a fire until they become warm and more comfortable. So when you 'warm to' a person or idea, you gradually begin 'to like' them or feel more positive about them.