lovey-dovey, n. and a.
(ˈlʌvɪˈdʌvɪ)
[f. lovey + dovie, dovey.]
A. n. = lovey; also, brotherly love.
| 1819 [see dovie, dovey]. 1904 Daily Chron. 26 Mar. 6/5 We will..love one another as much as we can, lovey dovey. 1946 H. L. Mencken in Life 5 Aug. 46/2 And bring in a reign of peace, prosperity and lovey-dovey. |
B. adj. Fondly affectionate; namby-pamby.
| 1886 Harper's Mag. Dec. 134/1, I would wear gray, which mamma prefers, but which I think looks lovey-dovey. 1900 H. Lawson On Track 65 Just as lovey-dovey talk is important to her and nonsense to you. 1967 ‘D. Shannon’ Chance to Kill (1968) vii. 91 You want to act all broad-minded and lovey-dovey with the dinges, O.K., but I got a right to feel how I like too. 1969 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 19/3 There had been a fight. ‘There was none of the usual lovey-dovey stuff between them.’ 1973 ‘H. Carmichael’ Too Late for Tears viii. 99 This woman hadn't been all lovey-dovey with her husband... They'd been squabbling for months. |
So ˈlovey-ˈdoveyness [-ness], a state of maudlin sentimentality.
| 1923 D. H. Lawrence Stud. Classic Amer. Lit. x. 210 He [sc. Melville] wanted the lovey-doveyness of perfect mutual understanding. 1968 Punch 29 May 788/3 The fond pleasures, dear upsets and general lovey-doveyness of family life. |