Word.ws English Dictionary

take a shine to

take a shine to verb: to become fond of something or someone.

Verb

take a shine to (third-person singular simple present takes a shine to, present participle taking a shine to, simple past took a shine to, past participle taken a shine to)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To become fond of something or someone.
    • He took a shine to jazz.
    • Meanwhile handsome ex-cavalryman Captain Henry Ossory (Theo James) seems to have taken a shine to Selina as well; he is so tight-trousered his fly button will surely have someone’s eye out.2022 August 24, Peter Bradshaw, “Mr Malcolm’s List review – Regency romcom served with cake-icing of irony”, in The Guardian

Synonyms of take a shine to

Forms of take a shine to

third-person singular presenttakes a shine to
present participletaking a shine to
pasttook a shine to
past participletaken a shine to

Questions about take a shine to

What does take a shine to mean?
Take a shine to means to become fond of something or someone.
What part of speech is take a shine to?
Take a shine to is a verb.
What is the past tense of take a shine to?
The past tense of take a shine to is took a shine to.

Words near take a shine to in the dictionary

  1. take a ride to Tyburn
  2. take a risk
  3. take a run at
  4. take a running jump
  5. take a seat
  6. take a shine to
  7. take a shining to
  8. take a shit
  9. take a shot in the dark
  10. take a sight
  11. take a spill

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take a shine to (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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