love affair

Noun

love affair (plural love affairs)

1. An affair; a usually adulterous relationship between people who are not married to each other.
   • He was involved in a love affair with a married woman.
   • "A love affair is an insatiable curiosity over an inscrutable enigma."1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 175

   Synonyms:

   affaire, liaison, romance

2. A feeling of enthusiasm or strong liking for something; a fondness.
   • I've always had a love affair with stamps.
   • And if his love affair with Old Trafford was strained by the saga of his demand to leave earlier this season, the bond was rekindled as United claimed a vital victory.2011 February 12, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 2 - 1 Man City”, in BBC