sweetheart
Americannoun
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sweethearts
plural
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either of a pair of lovers in relation to the other.
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(sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address.
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a beloved person.
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Informal. a generous, friendly person.
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Informal. anything that arouses loyal affection.
My old car was a real sweetheart.
noun
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a person loved by another
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informal a lovable, generous, or obliging person
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a term of endearment for a beloved or lovable person
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sweetheart
First recorded in 1250–1300, sweetheart is from Middle English swete herte. See sweet, heart
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mum Linda said: "My sweetheart boy could never do no wrong, my life will never be the same with you not here. My heart will forever be broken."
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
They were previously made to give up their titles and leave their families - which is what Princess Mako did in 2021 to marry her college sweetheart.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Born Mary Jo Campbell on July 26, 1934, MJ married her high school sweetheart, whom she divorced two months later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
Williams eventually married Ruick, his high school sweetheart and mother of his three children.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
I wanted to tell him not to call me sweetheart.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
She said she and Fox were "childhood sweethearts" who were planning to get married, which happened while he was in a coma in hospital.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
People also meet their sweethearts in college or at jobs that require similar qualifications.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 14, 2026
"It's here that we still meet our sweethearts, that we swap our numbers scribbled on little bits of paper," says fisherman Paulin Agbokounou.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Jackie and Patrick McDonald, high school sweethearts from Hesperia, came more than four decades ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
“You should know, your parents were in love. They were high school sweethearts, they were so head over heels with each other. It was a little disgusting, actually.”
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
