SWEETHEART

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sweetheart mean? 

• SWEETHEART (noun)
  The noun SWEETHEART has 3 senses:

1. a person loved by another person

2. any well-liked individual

3. a very attractive or seductive looking woman

  Familiarity information: SWEETHEART used as a noun is uncommon.

• SWEETHEART (adjective)
  The adjective SWEETHEART has 1 sense:

1. privileged treatment of a favored person or corporation (sometimes unethically)

  Familiarity information: SWEETHEART used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWEETHEART (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person loved by another person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

steady; sweetheart; sweetie; truelove

Hypernyms ("sweetheart" is a kind of...):

lover (a person who loves someone or is loved by someone)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sweetheart"):

dulcinea; ladylove (a woman who is a man's sweetheart)

sugar daddy (a wealthy older man who gives a young person expensive gifts in return for friendship or intimacy)

valentine (a sweetheart chosen to receive a greeting on Saint Valentine's Day)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any well-liked individual

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he's a sweetheart

Hypernyms ("sweetheart" is a kind of...):

good person (a person who is good to other people)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A very attractive or seductive looking woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

beauty; dish; knockout; looker; lulu; mantrap; peach; ravisher; smasher; stunner; sweetheart

Hypernyms ("sweetheart" is a kind of...):

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

• SWEETHEART (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Privileged treatment of a favored person or corporation (sometimes unethically)

Context example:

another sweetheart deal based on political influence

Similar:

privileged (blessed with privileges)

 Context examples 

Or, you may travel with your sweetheart and bond closer.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I thought at the time that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When she had gone away, the girl got up and went to her sweetheart, who was called Roland, and knocked at his door.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I’m right glad from my heart to see you, dear lad; and as to you, sweetheart—

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Jules Vibart, and, what was of more importance, Jules Vibart’s sweetheart, thought that this call and the departure were cause and effect.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By and by, he said: No sweethearts, I b'lieve?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He took her in his arms and kissed her, but she proved a passive sweetheart.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It would strike him that in disappearing he might throw all pursuit off his track, and at the same time have an ample and crushing revenge upon his old sweetheart, if he could give the impression that he had been murdered by her only child.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You won't show the soft side of your character, and if a fellow gets a peep at it by accident and can't help showing that he likes it, you treat him as Mrs. Gummidge did her sweetheart, throw cold water over him, and get so thorny no one dares touch or look at you.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But so many were the men who had rushed into the Klondike, and so many were the sweethearts, wives, and kin that had not rushed in, that the congested mail was taking on Alpine proportions; also, there were official orders.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)