Dictionary

lovey en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈlʌvi/

Etymology

From love + -y.

Meanings

1. (UK) An informal mode of address (associated most often with actors and the like).
   • The number one I hope to reap / Depends upon the tears you weep / So cry, lovey, cry 1989, Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray, “Song for Whoever”, performed by The Beautiful South:
   • “Now, my lovey, eat it up like a good girl,” said nurse, setting her lips in a way that Bertha knew, and that meant she had come into the nursery at another wrong moment. 1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 118:
2. A baby's toy, blanket, or other object of affection.
   • Young children need to have certain love objects or “loveys” such as teddy bears around all the time. 1987, Kathryn Castle, The Infant & Toddler Handbook: Invitations for Optimum Early Development:
   • A lovey can be a comfort to your child and ease the pain of separation. 2010, Elizabeth Pantley, The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution:
   • If loveys can help children grow up, he says, "it seems obvious to me that we should treasure them. […] If a child has formed an attachment to a lovey, it's important that his need be respected by his caregivers 1987 June 14, Working Mother, volume 10, number 6, page 96:

Forms

Relateds

lovey-dovey · puppy-lovey · lovey-doveyness · transitional object