The main difference between the words like and love is that to like someone, or something means you find something satisfactory or agreeable and to love something, or someone means you feel deep attraction for someone.
Like vs. Love
Like and love is the two most common emotions or feelings experienced by people around the world. ‘To like’ means that you find something agreeable or satisfactory. Love is a strong feeling of affection. You like the person you love, but that does not mean that you love the people you like. Liking someone means to agree with them or being pleased with them. Loving someone means to have a deep feeling of affection for them. You certainly like someone whom you love, but it is not necessarily true that you love someone whom you like. Like is the feeling of being happy with the presence of a specific person. Love is the extremely intense feeling in which you cannot bear to be without a specific person with whom you are in love. As cliche, liking gives you the proverbial butterflies in the stomach but loving someone involves something much deeper than that. Like is to be comfortable in the company of a person. Love is a specific person becoming an integral part of your life. Like and love has a difference in the level of affection one have for something or someone. When you like a person, you feel happy when he/she is around you. But when you love someone, you feel that you can never manage to live without them. Like is based on choice, and it is an instant feeling. Love is based on trust, and it may take time to develop. The feeling of liking someone can be developed for anyone or anything. But the feeling of love is only developed for the very few in your life. ‘Like’ means admiration and attachment. Love means acceptance and endurance.
Comparison Chart
| Like | Love |
| A mild feeling of attraction towards something/someone | A strong and intense feeling of attraction towards something/someone |
| Associated With | |
| Pleasant feelings | Intense, strong feelings |
| Nature | |
| Need a reason | Unconditional |
| Duration | |
| Temporary | Permanent |
| Feeling | |
| Mild | Strong, intense |
What is ‘Like’?
Like is a feeling of admiration towards something or someone. You say that you like someone or something only when you find them satisfactory. You can like a lot of things and people in life. When you say that you like a person, this preference could be based on the qualities or physical appearance of that person. Liking someone is also synonymous with respecting someone, agreeing with someone, or even having a crush on someone. It depends on the context. In modern society, ‘like’ also means to display approval through social media networks. Generally, people enjoy early stages and initial feelings of liking someone. They even like to talk to them and spend time together. They like learning all the details about each other — the feeling of likeness associates not only with the persons but also with the things. You tend to like a dress, shoes, a specific restaurant, or anything that make you happy or satisfied. But this is a controllable feeling. One can manage to live without a person or thing one likes. And the likeness is not permanent. It is temporary in a way that the likeness towards something keeps on changing. i.e., If you like a specific person or some reason you can dislike it if something bad about him/her happens to you (unlike love). Hence, this feeling ‘like’ is a limited state of emotions that is under the control of a person.
Examples
- I like to read detective novels.
- I like cats.
- I like the way he talks.
- He likes that new girl in college for her long hair.
What is Love?
Love is a strong feeling of affection. Generally, love exists in the strong and long relationships. It is an unconditional emotion. It exists between the parents and their children, a husband and a wife, a brother, and a sister, etc. Also, we use ‘love’ when we are talking about something we like a lot. For example, “I love swimming.” Or “I love chocolate cupcakes.” Love is much deeper and different emotion. It is a thing of beauty. It gives you relaxation and confusion at the same time. It is a strange feeling among all. Love is full of passion and is always similar to those emotions felt when you first met that person. Love is not about gaining the upper hand. It is selfless and undemanding. Furthermore, the feeling of love once developed, cannot be replaced or demolished. The main feature of love is that it eliminates imbalances and different degrees of feelings. You do not love a person for a reason because love needs no reason. You love wholeheartedly. If you are in love with someone, merely the thought of losing them or going far away from you will make you sad. Hence it is an intense emotion whose outcome in every sense is extreme. Sometimes, people after accidentally losing the person they love could not manage to live happily ever. They dedicate their whole life to loneliness. Means the whole world becomes nothing or them due to the absence of the person they love.
Examples
- She feels that she is in love with him.
- He loves his family.
- She loves her cat.
Key Differences
- Like, can be used to indicate admiration and preference for someone or something whereas love is an intense and strong feeling towards someone.
- Liking a person means that you are happy to be with him on the flip side; loving a person means that you cannot live without
- Like is a mild feeling conversely love is a stronger feeling.
- Like depend on factors like physical appearance, qualities, etc., on the other hand; love is unconditional.
- Like is associated with pleasant feelings while love is associated with more intense feelings.
Conclusion
Like and love are the two different kinds of emotions in men and women.
It's hard to distinguish between like, love, and lust. First of all, they all start with the letter L and that is very confusing.
But really, it's hard to figure out when you've moved from one stage of your relationship to the next. When you meet someone, lock eyes with them from across the room, or swipe right on them on Bumble, that's usually lust, right?
And then, after going on a few dates and getting to know them, you start to like them. This is when things get bad.
You wait for them to text. You wonder when you're going to make plans with. And if you continue to date, you keep hoping you'll have that "let's be exclusive" conversation.
Then, finally, you're in a relationship. You've been dating for a few months. You know each others' friends, you spend a few nights a week together, and his sister follows you on Instagram. Does this mean you're in love yet?
Well, that's not exactly how it works. Here's how to tell the difference between liking and loving someone, as explained by dating experts.
Guille FaingoldDating and Relationship Coach Monica Parikh, of the School of Love NYC, points out the telltale differences between love and infatuation (or liking someone a lot).
According to her, liking someone, or being infatuated with them, usually happens quickly. But loving someone is a slow process that is built on a healthy foundation.
She told Elite Daily, "Love understands that true intimacy is developed over a long time and through many seasons of life."
In addition, liking someone a lot is an obsessive feeling. You want them to call or text all the time. You might stalk their social media. You force them to have plans, or use sex and hooking up to control them. But love is different.
“Love understands that we are all autonomous beings seeking our individual fulfillment, which may not perfectly align to your vision,” says Parikh.
Finally, Parikh says conflict can end a relationship that's just in the "like" stage: "In infatuation, when one partner hurts the other, the trauma pulls apart the relationship. In love, each partner sees the trauma as the catalyst for deeper intimacy and understanding"
Danil NevskyWhen we fall in love with someone, it also tends to be a chemical roller coaster, and it can affect us physically more than "liking" someone can.
Alyssa Bunn, professional matchmaker at Tawkify and creator of Love + Co, told Elite Daily, "When a man starts to fall in love, his testosterone levels drop. They may feel fatigued, moody, and you may witness a reduced sex drive, weight gain, or muscle loss."
You might also notice that when you're in love with someone, your body feels like it's on a high. As Bunn explains, "When we are truly in love, we're all on 'drugs.' Not only are our dopamine, oxytocin, and vasopressin levels at all-time highs, but our amygdala — our fear — is 'gone.'"
When you actually move into the stages of loving someone, rather than just liking them, Bunn says the feeling can be "as addictive as cocaine."
But love can change over time, and not always feel like you are on cocaine. Because that would suck if love always made you feel like you were insane, right?
LeslieBeth Wish, Ed. D, author of Smart Relationships and founder of Love Victory, told Elite Daily that the way you experience love can change the longer you and your partner are together.
“Over time, the intensity does not disappear, but, instead, it becomes one of many mutually positive feelings. Long-term, mutually happy couples in love say that they feel peaceful, confident, empowered, and other positive feelings,” she said.
So, to summarize, "liking" someone a lot is often a controlling, obsessive feeling. At times, it can feel fear-based or unsafe. Additionally, it doesn't necessarily have a complete foundation. It is more fragile, it's different chemically, and often, it passes over time.
Love, however, is a chemical roller coaster, but it is also something that is earned based on truly knowing and respecting your partner. It is sturdy, deserved, and feels safe. It evolves over time, but it doesn't dull.
So, what do you think. Are you in love right now?