lovey

Noun

lovey (plural loveys)

1. (UK) An informal mode of address (associated most often with actors and the like).
   • “Now, my lovey, eat it up like a good girl,” said nurse, setting her lips in a way that Bertha knew, and that meant she had come into the nursery at another wrong moment.1918 August, Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Bliss”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 118
   • The number one I hope to reap / Depends upon the tears you weep / So cry, lovey, cry1989, Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray, “Song for Whoever”, performed by The Beautiful South
2. A baby's toy, blanket, or other object of affection.
   • Young children need to have certain love objects or “loveys” such as teddy bears around all the time.1987, Kathryn Castle, The Infant & Toddler Handbook: Invitations for Optimum Early Development
   • If loveys can help children grow up, he says, "it seems obvious to me that we should treasure them. […] If a child has formed an attachment to a lovey, it's important that his need be respected by his caregivers1987 June, Working Mother, volume 10, number 6, page 96