sweetheart

sweetheart

English

Etymology

From Middle English swete hert, swete heorte (phrase of endearment); equivalent to sweet +‎ heart.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈswiːtˌhɑːt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈswitˌhɑɹt/, [ˈswiˌɾ(ʱ)ɑɹt̠̚]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

A "Sweetheart pin" with the emblem of the South Irish Horse (SIH) Regiment in World War I, sent by a soldier to his girlfriend as a memento

sweetheart (plural sweethearts)

1. A person who is always very kind.

   She is such a sweetheart: she never complains about me being late.

2. A person very much liked or loved by someone, especially when both partners are young.

   John married his high-school sweetheart in 1981.

   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, OCLC 222309388, [Act IV, scene v]:

     Why Lambe, why Lady, fie you ſluggabed, / Why Loue I ſay, Madam, ſweeteheart, why Bride: / What not a word, you take your penniworths now, / Sleepe for a weeke, […]

3. (US) A female member of a college or university fraternity.

Synonyms

• (kind person): sweetie.
• (romantic term of endearment): babe, baby, dear, darling, sweetie, see also Thesaurus:sweetheart

Derived terms

• sweetheart cabbage
• sweetheart cake
• sweetheart contract
• sweetheart deal
• sweetheart neckline
• sweetheart tax

Related terms

• sweet
• sweetie

Translations

a person who is always very kind

Assamese: কলিজা (koliza) Finnish: kullanmuru (fi); kultainen (fi) (adj.) French: chéri (fr) m German: Schatz (de) m, herzensguter Mensch m, Seele von Mensch f Hungarian: kedves ember Italian: gentile (it), cara (it), caro (it) m Macedonian: душа m or f (duša), душичка m or f (dušička) Polish: baranek (pl) m Portuguese: gentil (pt), meigo (pt) m Romanian: drag (ro) m, dragă (ro) f Russian: ду́шка (ru) m or f (dúška) Spanish: dulzura (es)

a person very much liked or loved by someone — See also translations at darling,‎ cutie

Arabic: حَبِيب‎ m (ḥabīb), حَبِيبَة‎ f (ḥabība) Assamese: কলিজা (koliza) Belarusian: лю́бы m (ljúby), лю́бая f (ljúbaja), мі́лы m (míly), мі́лая f (mílaja) Bulgarian: скъп (bg) m (skǎp), скъ́па (bg) f (skǎ́pa), люби́м (bg) m (ljubím), люби́ма (bg) f (ljubíma), ли́бе (bg) n (líbe), лю́бе n (ljúbe), възлю́бен m (vǎzljúben), възлю́бена f (vǎzljúbena) Burmese: ရည်းစား (my) (rany:ca:), အချစ် (my) (a.hkyac), ချစ်သူ (my) (hkyacsu) Cherokee: ᏧᎾᏓᏓᏡᎩ (tsunadadatlugi) Chinese: Mandarin: 親愛的／亲爱的 (zh) (qīn'ài de), 寶貝／宝贝 (zh) (bǎobèi) Min Nan: 阿娜達／阿娜达 (zh), 阿娜达 (zh) (a-na-ta) (Taiwan) Czech: miláček (cs) m Danish: elskede (da) c, skat (da) c Finnish: kullanmuru (fi), kultanen, rakas (fi), sydänkäpy French: amante (fr) f, chéri (fr) m, chérie (fr) f, amour (fr) m, ange (fr) m Georgian: სატრფო (saṭrpo), მიჯნური (miǯnuri), საყვარელი (saq̇vareli) German: Liebchen (de) n, Liebling (de) m, Schatz (de) m, Liebster m, Liebste f, Herzallerliebster m, Herzallerliebste f Greek: εραστής (el) m (erastís), ερωμένη (el) f (eroméni) Hebrew: מותק‎ (he) (móteq) Hungarian: (one's lover, with possessive suffixes) kedves, szerelem (hu), (terms of address) édesem, kedvesem, szerelmem, drágám (hu), kicsim Irish: cumann m Italian: amore (it) c, tesoro (it) c, dolcezza (it) f Japanese: (informal term for a male) カレシ (kareshi); (informal term for a female) カノジョ (kanojo); (general) 恋人 (ja) (koibito), スイートハート (suītohāto), 愛すべき (あいすべき, aisubeki), (darling) ダーリン (ja) (dārin), (honey) ハニー (ja) (hanī), (wife to husband) 貴方 (ja) (あなた, anata), (husband to wife) 君 (ja) (きみ, kimi) Korean: 여보 (ko) (yeobo), 자기 (ko) (jagi) Latin: dēliciae f pl, corculum n Macedonian: љубен m (ljuben), љубена f (ljubena), либе n (libe), душичка f (dušička), срцка f (srcka), срцуле n (srcule), душиче n (dušiče) Malay: sayang (ms) Maori: whaiāipo, tau (mi), tahu, ipo, kaimanawa, kaihou, ate (mi) Michif: nicimos Navajo: sheʼashkii m, sheʼatʼééd f Norwegian: søtnos, søting Persian: دلدار‎ (fa) (deldâr), دلارام‎ (fa) (delârâm), دلبر‎ (fa) (delbar), یار‎ (fa) (yâr) Plautdietsch: Schauz m Polish: sympatia (pl) f, ukochany (pl) m, kochanie (pl) n, ukochana (pl) f Portuguese: amor (pt) m or f, tesouro (pt) m or f, doçura (pt) f, querido (pt) m, anjo (pt) m or f Romanian: iubit (ro) m, iubită (ro) f, drag (ro) m, drăguță (ro) f Russian: возлю́бленный (ru) m (vozljúblennyj), возлю́бленная (ru) f (vozljúblennaja), дорого́й (ru) m (dorogój), дорога́я (ru) f (dorogája), люби́мый (ru) m (ljubímyj), люби́мая (ru) f (ljubímaja), ду́шенька (ru) f (dúšenʹka), голу́бушка (ru) f (golúbuška), ми́лый (ru) m (mílyj), ми́лая (ru) f (mílaja) Scottish Gaelic: leannan m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: диридика f Roman: diridika f Slovak: miláčik, srdiečko Slovene: ljubček m, ljubica f Spanish: corazón (es) m Swahili: tamu (sw), pipi (sw) Taos: pìa’ąsíne pl Thai: หวานใจ (wǎan-jai) Ukrainian: ми́лий m (mýlyj), ми́ла f (mýla), коха́ний (uk) m (koxányj), коха́на f (koxána) Vietnamese: người yêu (vi)

Anagrams

• washerette, wet heaters