English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English hony-swete; equivalent to honey +‎ sweet.

Adjective edit

honey-sweet (comparative more honey-sweet or (rare) honey-sweeter, superlative most honey-sweet or (rare) honey-sweetest)

  1. As sweet as honey; very sweet.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Job Has a Presentiment”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 253:
      Beauty is naught to him, because there are lips more honey-sweet; and wealth is naught, because others can weigh him down with heavier shekels; and fame is naught, because there have been greater men than he.
    • 1942 October 24, Pat McVean, ““Black-Out” Nickel Fools Many People”, in The Leader-Post, volume XXXIV, number 251, Regina, Sask., page three, column 4:
      Cheerfully, and in my honey-sweetest voice I asked: “Can you give me a dime for two nickels?”
    • 1974, Jan Wolkers, translated by Greta Kilburn, Turkish Delight, [New York, N.Y.]: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, →ISBN, page 32:
      She added that if I continued to bother Olga she would take steps I would not particularly enjoy. At her honey-sweetest of course, but “My husband and I do not care to have our daughter involved in friendships of this nature.”
    • 2009, Dorien Kelly, Over the Wall, Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 149:
      And just because she was feeling a little snippy, she said in the honey-sweetest tone possible, “Want me to come help pack your bags?”

Translations edit