lovey-dovey

adjective

Affectionate in a rather mushy or oversentimental fashion.

Similar
kissy-kissy
OriginEnglish dove ← Middle English douve ← Old English *dūfe →
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Meanings

adjectivelovey-dovey (comparative more lovey-dovey, superlative most lovey-dovey)

comparative more lovey-dovey · superlative most lovey-dovey

  1. informalAffectionate in a rather mushy or oversentimental fashion.

    This ain't no fooling around / No time for dancing, or lovey dovey / I ain't got time for that now

    1979, “Life During Wartime”, in Fear of Music, performed by Talking Heads
    1 more example

    And then when she'd put me right off, and I didn't want her, she'd come all lovey-dovey, and get me. And I always went.

    1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 14, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Gutenberg edition, [Florence, Italy]: [ […] Tipografia Giuntina, […]], →OCLC; republished as Lady Chatterley’s Lover (eBook no. 0100181h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, August 2011, archived from the original on 11 Nov 2020

    Synonyms: kissy-kissy

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveAffectionate in a rather mushy or oversentimental fashion.

Similar
kissy-kissy
Also see
kissy-kissysmoochy-woochy

Origin

  1. Englishlove
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ-der.?
  3. Proto-Germanic*dūbaną?
  4. Proto-Germanic*dūbǭ
  5. Proto-West Germanic*dūbā
  6. Old English*dūfe
  7. Middle Englishdouve
  8. Englishdove
  9. Englishlovey-dovey

From love + -y + dove + -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 卿卿我我, 膩膩歪歪 /腻腻歪歪
  • 卿卿我我 (qīngqīngwǒwǒ)Translations
  • 膩膩歪歪 /腻腻歪歪 (nìnìwāiwāi)Translations
German turteltäubig
  • turteltäubigTranslations
Hebrew צֶמֶד חֶמֶד
  • צֶמֶד חֶמֶד (tzémed ẖémed)Translations
Polish ckliwy
  • ckliwyTranslations
Spanish amartelado, acaramelado
  • amarteladoTranslations
  • acarameladoTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

lovey-dovey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lovey-dovey

MLA

“lovey-dovey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lovey-dovey. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lovey-dovey,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lovey-dovey.

Source: lovey-dovey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.