lovey

American

[luhv-ee] / ˈlʌv i /

noun

Chiefly British Informal.

sweetheart; dear (used as a term of endearment).

lovey British

/ ˈlʌvɪ /

noun

informal another word for 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

Etymology

Origin of lovey

First recorded in 1725–35; love + -ey ²

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.

When I was deployed on an aircraft carrier, a lot more men than you might think brought some kind of lovey with them.

From Washington Post • Oct. 13, 2021

You know the wonderful old lovey actors, slightly predatory thespians, who did long, long warmups and taught me how to use greasepaint — which we were still using in 1983.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2020

“Shanee’s the more dominant one. Tani’s more the lovey, huggy one.”

From New York Times • Jun. 26, 2020

I spent my whole pregnancy angry and resentful, but I kept thinking the happy, lovey feelings would come later.

From Slate • Feb. 16, 2018

“What happened? I’ll tell ya what happened, shank. Too busy makin’ lovey eyes to bother lookin’ around?

From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023