sweetie or sweety

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableinformal

   A loving name you call someone you like or love.

   Grammar: Used like a name, so it often stands alone: 'Goodnight, sweetie.'

   Patterns

   • Hello, sweetie
   • my sweetie

   Goodnight, sweetie — sleep well.

   He bought flowers for his sweetie on her birthday.

   Come here, sweetie, and let me tie your shoe.

2. 2nouncountableinformalBritish

   A sweet food made with sugar, such as a candy or a piece of chocolate.

   Grammar: Usually plural in this sense: 'a bag of sweeties'.

   Patterns

   • a bag of sweeties
   • eat sweeties

   The children spent their pocket money on sweeties.

   Don't eat too many sweeties before dinner.

Word forms

Common combinations

my sweetie

My sweetie made me breakfast in bed.

Hey, sweetie

Hey, sweetie, how was your day?

a little sweetie

Their daughter is a little sweetie.

sweeties and chocolates

The shop sells sweeties and chocolates.

Synonyms and how they differ

honey

Also a loving name, but it can be used more freely with strangers, especially in the southern US.

darling

Slightly more formal and often used between older couples or by a parent to a child.

candy

The usual American word for the food sense; 'sweetie' in this sense sounds British and childish.

Word family

sweet adjective

Tasting like sugar; also kind and pleasant.

sweeten verb

To make something taste sweeter.

sweetness noun

The quality of being sweet.

Commonly confused: sweetie or sweety or sweaty?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “sweetie or sweety”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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