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:
By the time he married his teenage sweetheart, Liza, in 2021, he was already planning a life outside of the military.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Dolly Parton — the “queen of country,” benevolent ruler of Dollywood and America’s true sweetheart — died at age 80 last month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Steven, now 35 and married to his high school sweetheart with a toddler, is a partner at Arena Capital, a small real-estate private-equity firm that invests in the Hudson Valley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Some, ahem, “congratulations” are in order for Post Malone and his sweetheart Christy Lee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
“Are you hungry, sweetheart? Should I make you a sandwich?”
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
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
Two childhood sweethearts have been reunited after more than 85 years thanks to an old school photograph.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2025
“No one goes with them to keep them company. The gringo way with sweethearts is to be alone.”
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
