sweetheart
Americannoun
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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
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.
“You would never think that America’s sweetheart would be so brilliant as this extremely chilly, withholding suburban housewife,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
"I'd marry him again if I could, he's still my sweetheart," she told The Guardian in 2022.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026
She had entered college with dreams of becoming a lawyer, but had set aside that vision to marry her high-school sweetheart and raise children.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
He had two sons from his first marriage to his high school sweetheart Dianne Holechek, which lasted 30 years, and a son and a daughter with his second wife Gena O'Kelley.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
She learned only that he’d been a high school sweetheart who was long gone.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
