high school sweetheart
23
3.2
- noun
- /haɪ skuːl ˈswiːtˌhɑːrt/
- US
- After my dad died, my mom married her high school sweetheart.
- married his high school sweetheart
- high school sweetheart is married
- reunited with her high school sweetheart
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Watch on YouTubeHe had been in that hospital for months when Carl's letter to letters to Margie, his high school sweetheart, no longer arrived.
- He had been in that hospital for months when Carl's letter to letters to Margie, his high school sweetheart, no longer arrived.
- My mother was from Southern California and like fell in love with her high school sweetheart.
- This was my first like boyfriend my high school sweetheart.
- Also her high school sweetheart but wasn't a sweetheart because they like didn't take the risk to have the relationship.
Examples
-
Now tell me that song doesn't make you want to dial up your old high-school sweetheart.
-
I am happily married to my high school sweetheart, Mitchell.
Blog text (33) -
In the year he was on the West Coast, I married my high school sweetheart.
Fiction book (1994) -
In May 2011, I married my high school sweetheart, Mike.
Blog text (4) -
Much to his friends' surprise, he was one of the first to get married to his high school sweetheart at 22.
Blog text (17) -
Her tears have replaced her memories of her high school sweetheart, of the life they were building together.
Fiction book (1992) -
Now, that instantly explained my break-up with John Miller, my high school sweetheart of two years.
Fiction book (2002) -
McAninch has been married for 39 years to his high school sweetheart, Janet.
Blog text (21) -
The museum presents a kinder, gentler Roger, one I had seldom heard of: the hometown kid who married his high school sweetheart and never forgot his humble Midwestern roots.
Academic text (2001) -
Mike married his high school sweetheart, reflecting their strong bond from teenage years.
Synonyms
14
4.2
A person you used to date
Surface Forms
Morphology
high + school + sweetheart
The phrase is directly compositional: 'high school' denotes the educational stage and 'sweetheart' denotes a romantic partner, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to a romantic partner from one’s high school years. This pattern (stage-of-life + partner) is transparent and parallels constructions in many languages, so the meaning is predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
High school sweetheart comes from the simple image of meeting a special person at high school and calling them your sweetheart, a loving young partner, so it describes 'a person you dated in high school' and often brings back warm memories.