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Synonyms

puppy love

American  

noun

  1. temporary infatuation of a boy or girl for another person.

puppy love British  

noun

  1. another term for calf love

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
puppy love Idioms  

  1. Also, calf love. Adolescent love or infatuation, especially one that is not expected to last, as in Beth is besotted with him, but we think it's just puppy love, or He's got a bad case of calf love. [First half of 1800s]

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.

“You know, you have puppy love experiences, you think that’s love,” she told Cosmopolitan in September 2023.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025

Initially it was puppy love, with four-month-old Davy getting along well with his adopted siblings and seemingly enjoying the limelight.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 22, 2023

“Show a little puppy love to your pet and take it out of the carrying case,” Farbstein said.

From Washington Post • Feb. 24, 2023

It turns out that what a lot of folks want right now isn’t a commemoration of queer pain, but a romance about puppy love.

From New York Times • Jun. 24, 2022

That was the day my puppy love, my silly crush for her, changed into something else.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

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.