Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to catch feelings

to catch feelings

1 8.6
Begin to like someone in a romantic way
  • phrasal verb
  • Slang
translation icon : enamorarse
  • But now I, you know, now I know I can move on and I don't have to catch feelings for this girl anymore.
  • man catching feelings

I'm the girl best friend, but I've caught feelings and he has a girlfriend.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I just didn't want to catch feelings, but I caught them anyway.

  • You can catch feelings after just one day.

    Fire Island (2022)

  • When I first came in, I did start to catch feelings, but I did say that my head might turn.

  • I'm the girl best friend, but I've caught feelings and he has a girlfriend.

    The Girls Bathroom

  • The other day I realized I think I have turned off the ability to catch feelings and have just been porking mindlessly.

  • I didn't intend to catch feelings, but our late-night conversations made me realize I'm falling for him.

  • She warned me that it was just a fling, but I can't help but catch feelings every time we meet.

  • After spending so much time together, he finally admitted that he had started to catch feelings for her.

Synonyms

to fall in love
vsto catch feelings
950 2.5

To begin to feel strong romantic feelings for someone

describes milder developing emotional attachment rather than deep love
to fall in love with
vsto catch feelings
475 1.6

To begin to feel strong romantic feelings for someone or something

is milder emotional attachment not necessarily strong romantic love
to have a crush on
vsto catch feelings
  • Informal
106 3.3

To like someone as more than a friend, often secretly

means forming lasting attachment rather than a brief secret fancy
to fall for
vsto catch feelings
  • Informal
84 3.7

To start to like someone as more than a friend

develop romantic feeling more gradually and less suddenly

Antonyms

to disengage
82 5.3

To stop being part of or connected to something

How Attached

to catch feelings
  • Slang
1 8.6
to have a crush on
  • Informal
106 3.3

Surface Forms

catch feelings infinitive
catching feelings present participle
catches feelings third person singular
caught feelings past
caught feelings past participle

Morphology

catch + feelings

The verb 'catch' can mean 'to acquire or begin to have' (as in 'catch a cold'), so combining it with 'feelings' makes a plausible compositional sense of 'begin to have emotional/romantic feelings' for learners who know both words. However, the expression is informal and somewhat metaphorical/slangy, and the specific romantic/attachment nuance and usage may not be fully predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom catch feelings uses the image of catch like catching a cold and feelings as emotions that come on quickly. So, it means 'to start to have romantic or strong emotions for someone'.