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Grow on someone

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To gradually become more likable and appealing as one becomes more familiar with them, suggesting an initial indifference that deepens into fondness over time.

Detailed Definition
Grow on someone means to become gradually more pleasing, meaningful, or acceptable over time. In poetry, the idiom can describe a person, place, poem, song, landscape, or idea whose value is not immediate. It is useful for exploring slow affection, delayed understanding, and the patient work of perception. The growth metaphor suggests organic development rather than sudden conversion. A poet may use it to show how familiarity changes judgement, and how beauty sometimes arrives quietly after resistance or indifference.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem about music may show a strange melody growing on someone after repeated listening; In a love lyric, the awkward suitor slowly grows on the speaker; The phrase can suggest gradual affection or appreciation; A poet might use it for landscapes that reveal beauty over time.
Additional Notes
To grow on someone means become more liked or appreciated over time. The phrase uses organic growth to describe changing taste or affection. In poetry, it can apply to people, places, music, habits, landscapes, or even difficult poems. Students should notice its slow temporal movement: unlike sudden love, this idiom values familiarity, repeated attention, and the gradual softening of resistance.
Also Known As
become liked
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