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, [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. A term of endearment, especially for a girlfriend, fiancée, or wife.
4. (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 deal

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 (mk) 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 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:

  Hokkien: 阿娜達 / 阿娜达, 阿娜达 (a-na-ta) (Taiwan)

  Mandarin: 親愛的 / 亲爱的 (zh) (qīn'ài de), 寶貝 / 宝贝 (zh) (bǎobèi)

• 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)
• Hindi: प्रिय (hi) m (priya), प्रिया (hi) f (priyā), प्रियतम (hi) m (priytam), प्रियतमा (hi) f (priyatmā)
• Hungarian: (one's lover, with possessive suffixes) kedves, szerelem (hu), (terms of address) édesem, kedvesem, szerelmem, drágám (hu), kicsim
• Ingrian: kultoin
• 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 (ja) (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 (mk) 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)
• Swedish: älskling (sv) c, raring (sv) c, sötnos (sv) c
• Taos: pìaʼąsíne 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