single word requests - Is there a name for the emotional response to cuteness?


What do you feel when you see this?


Adorable kitten


We all know the feeling of seeing something adorable, of wanting to hug it, take care of it, and let our speech degenerate into mindless babble and squealing. But does it have a name? Adoration isn't quite it, and that's about as close as I seem to be able to get. For such a common and powerful emotional response, I find it baffling that there seems to be no word for it. If there's no English word, we should re-purpose a foreign one, as we're wont to do.



Answer



Sometimes if we don't have the most cromulent word, we have to make one up.


I think the word squee is starting to catch on. Squeeness actually brings up a few google hits.


Not in the dictionary, yet. Squee's attested by Oxford Living Dictionaries website now:



EXCLAMATION
informal
Used to express great delight or excitement.
…
Check out This Kitty! Squee!



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