the L-word; love; being in love
A playful, euphemistic way to refer to love or being in love, derived from the first kana of 惚れる (horeru, 'to fall in love'). Often used in the phrase ほの字だ or ほの字になる to mean 'to be in love'.
See also: 惚れる
彼は彼女にほの字だ。
He's in love with her.
It seems those two are in love.
From the first kana ほ of 惚れる (horeru, 'to fall in love') combined with 字 (ji, 'character'), literally 'the ほ character', used as a euphemism for love.