Lolita was the nickname of one of the principal characters in
Vladimir Nabokov's novel
Lolita.
Lolita's actual name was Dolores, with whom the narrator, Humbert Humbert, develops a
sexual obsession. In the book itself, "
Lolita" is specifically Humbert's nickname for Dolores. Nevertheless, "Lolita" and "loli" has come to be used as a general reference to a seductive or sexually attractive young woman.