Word.ws English Dictionary

loved

/lʌvd/

loved is the simple past and past participle of love.

Meaning of love

Verb

love (third-person singular simple present loves, present participle loving, simple past and past participle loved)

  1. (intransitive, sometimes, stative, transitive, usually) To have a strong affection for (someone or something).
    • I love my spouse. I love you! I love that song!
    Synonyms:
    adore
  2. (transitive) To need, thrive on.
    • Mold loves moist, dark places.
  3. (transitive) To be strongly inclined towards something; an emphatic form of like.
    • I love walking barefoot on wet grass; I'd love to join the team; I love what you've done with your hair
  4. (intransitive, sometimes, transitive, usually) To seek the good or honor of (someone), care deeply about, to be dedicated to (someone or something).
    • For God so loued þe world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 3:16
  5. (ironic, sometimes, transitive) To derive delight from a fact or situation.
    • I love the fact that the coffee shop now offers fat-free chai latte.
  6. (Internet) Synonym of heart (verb).
    • She loved my photos of the kids playing with the dogs.
    Synonyms:
    heart

See all 31 meanings of love

Adjective

loved (comparative more loved, superlative most loved)

  1. Being the object of love.
    Synonyms:
    beloved

Synonyms of loved

Forms of loved

comparativemore loved
superlativemost loved

Origin of loved

From Middle English loved, luvd, from Old English lufode, first and third person singular past indicative of lufian; and Middle English loved, iloved, from Old English ġelufod, past participle of lufian; both equivalent to love + -ed.

Words formed from loved

Phrases with loved

Words that rhyme with loved

Questions about loved

What does loved mean?
Loved means being the object of love.
What is loved the simple past and past participle of?
Loved is the simple past and past participle of love.
What part of speech is loved?
Loved is an adjective.
How do you pronounce loved?
Loved is pronounced /lʌvd/.

Words near loved in the dictionary

  1. Lovecraftesque
  2. Lovecraftian
  3. Lovecraftiana
  4. Lovecraftians
  5. lovecrafty
  6. loved
  7. loved away
  8. loved it or lumped it
  9. loved on
  10. loved one
  11. loved ones

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: loved (page history and authors); love (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-loved.ogg.

Cite this entry: “loved.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/loved. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.