belonging
belonging — noun
1. the warm feeling you get when others in a group treat you as one of them, so you
the warm feeling you get when others in a group treat you as one of them, so you feel safe, valued, and at ease being yourself around them.
Joining the school choir gave Mei a strong sense of belonging.
collocation: a (strong) sense of belonging
After three lonely months in Berlin, Quinn finally found a feeling of belonging at the climbing gym.
collocation: a feeling of belonging
Many migrant workers struggle to develop a sense of belonging in their new neighbourhoods.
The teacher decorated the classroom with each child's photo to create belonging from day one.
Volunteering at the food bank gave Aunt Linda a deep sense of belonging during her retirement.
- acceptance
focuses on being approved by the group; 'belonging' adds the warm feeling of fitting in
- inclusion
more formal; describes the act of being included rather than the inner feeling
- fellowship
stresses friendly companionship, often in religious or club contexts
- alienation
the painful feeling of being cut off from a group
- isolation
physical or social separateness, with or without the emotional pain
文法句型
a sense of belonging
feeling of belonging
用法筆記
Almost always uncountable and almost always paired with 'a sense of' or 'a feeling of' — the bare noun 'belonging' on its own is rare outside academic or HR writing about inclusion.