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What does ILY mean?

ILY = I Love You

Short for “I love you” — a casual or sincere expression of affection.

ILY is one of the warmer abbreviations in everyday chat. Between close friends and family it’s sincere; between acquaintances it’s a friendly bookend that conveys appreciation without anything deeper.

Stronger version: ILYSM (“I love you so much”), with an even softer ILYSFM (“so freaking much”).

Lowercase by default.

Examples

How ILY reads in the wild.

  • “thanks for picking me up from the airport, ily”
  • “ily mum, see you sunday”

Where you’ll see it

iMessageInstagram DMsSnapchatWhatsApp

Common questions

What does ILY mean?

ILY stands for "I Love You". Short for “I love you” — a casual or sincere expression of affection.

How is ILY used?

ILY is one of the warmer abbreviations in everyday chat. Between close friends and family it’s sincere; between acquaintances it’s a friendly bookend that conveys appreciation without anything deeper. Stronger version: ILYSM (“I love you so much”), with an even softer ILYSFM (“so freaking much”). Lowercase by default.

Where will I see ILY?

ILY is commonly used on iMessage, Instagram DMs, Snapchat, WhatsApp.

For business owners

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