An unhealthy form of affection where a person becomes obsessed with another, spending the majority of their time thinking about them and having their mood dictated by their interactions with the object of their desire. Limerence is distinct from love as it turns the person obsessive, and they find that thoughts of the other person are intrusive, frequent, and cannot be stopped, possibly causing great emotional and cognitive distress.

The term was coined in 1977 by Dorothy Tennov in academic works, and first saw more widespread use when she used it in her 1979 book "Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love".