heartthrob

[ hahrt-throb ]

noun

1. a rapid beat or pulsation of the heart.
2. a passionate or sentimental emotion.
3. sweetheart.

Word History and Origins

Origin of heartthrob¹

First recorded in 1840–50; heart + throb

Example Sentences

A conservative coloring book publisher is out with a new title imagining the tea party heartthrob as a bona fide superhero.

From The Daily Beast

Despite doing nothing to get the man of her dreams, he arrives at her doorstep as if she Ubered the heartthrob.

From The Daily Beast

Baseball is losing not only one of its most revered players, but arguably its biggest heartthrob.

From The Daily Beast

Clooney is clearly thinking about the chapter marked "post-heartthrob," not that he's exactly losing his looks.

From The Daily Beast

He first hit it big as Dr. Robert Caldwell on St. Elsewhere—the hospital heartthrob a decade before George Clooney did it on ER.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• sweetheart