loveworthyadj.n.
/ˈlʌvˌwəːði/, U.S. /ˈləvˌwərði/ Worthy of being loved. Also as n.: a person who is worthy of love.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > quality of being lovable > [adjective]
lieflyOE
lovesomeOE
lovelyOE
leesomec1200
loveful?c1225
love-worthc1225
loveworthya1250
amiablea1375
lovablec1422
amorousa1425
amable1492
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 269 (MED) Inwið þe ane arn alle þe þinges igedered þat eauer muhen maken ani mon luuewurði to oðer.
1550 R. Morison tr. J. L. Vives Introd. Wisedome (new ed.) sig. B.iiii The grace that men obteine of princis or other people, shuld bee fauour borne to theym for their amiable vertues and qualitees, loue worthy.
1594 J. Dickenson Arisbas sig. C2 v The pow'r whome Cyprus adoreth, loues loue-worthy mother.
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 289 Neræna, the most loue-worthy of her sex.
1633 W. Struther True Happines 31 If these small goods be love-worthy, with what a love should we adhere to the fountain-good.
1829 S. T. Coleridge Let. 20 Oct. (1971) VI. 822 Whatever is good and love-worthy in the whole neighbourhood.
1867 C. Thirlwall Lett. (1881) I. 278 It may happen..that..the child makes the painful discovery that the person whom it most tenderly loves is not loveworthy.
1880 A. C. Swinburne Study of Shakespeare 227 A living god-garland of the noblest earth-born brothers and love-worthiest heaven-born sister.
1917 Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. 32 250 The character of Paolo, young, handsome, loveworthy, but a bit of a coxcomb, is contrasted..with Lanciotto.
1940 A. Huxley Let. 5 Jan. (1969) 449 Well, bless you both. Give our loves to the love-worthy.
1998 Eye for Future May 50/1 Odds are in my favour that I'll find more men who are shagworthy than loveworthy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1250