Advertisement
Advertisement
dear
1[ deer ]
adjective
- beloved or loved:
a dear friend.
Synonyms:
- (used in the salutation of a letter as an expression of affection or respect or as a conventional greeting):
Dear Sir.
- precious in one's regard; cherished:
our dearest possessions.
- heartfelt; earnest:
one's dearest wish.
- high-priced; expensive:
The silk dress was too dear.
- charging high prices:
That shop is too dear for my budget.
- excessive; high:
a dear price to pay for one's independence.
- Obsolete. difficult to get; scarce.
- Obsolete. worthy; honorable.
noun
- a person who is good, kind, or generous:
You're a dear to help me with the work.
- a beloved one.
- (sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address, as to a child or romantic partner (sometimes offensive when used to a stranger, subordinate, etc.)
adverb
- dearly; fondly.
- at a high price:
That painting cost me dear.
interjection
- (used as an exclamation of surprise, distress, etc.):
Oh dear, what a disappointment! Dear me! 's all that noise?
dear
2[ deer ]
adjective
- hard; grievous.
dear
/ ɪə /
adjective
- beloved; precious
- used in conventional forms of address preceding a title or name, as in Dear Sir or my dear Mr Smith
- postpositivefoll byto important; close
a wish dear to her heart
- highly priced
- charging high prices
- appealing or pretty
what a dear little ring!
- for dear lifeurgently or with extreme vigour or desperation
interjection
- used in exclamations of surprise or dismay, such as Oh dear! and dear me!
noun
- often used in direct address someone regarded with affection and tenderness; darling
adverb
- dearly
his errors have cost him dear
Derived Forms
- ˈԱ, noun
Other Word Forms
- l adverb
- n noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of dear1
Origin of dear2
Word History and Origins
Origin of dear1
Idioms and Phrases
In addition to the idiom beginning with dear , also see for dear life ; nearest and dearest .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Asked how she feels about him, she said: "I love him very much", adding that he was "very dear" to her.
With the Pope's death they feel they have lost a dear friend.
“This,” he continued, “should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.”
I refuse to invoke the phrase, "Elementary, my dear Watson," since it's one that's been famously misattributed to Holmes, though, in actuality, found nowhere in Doyle's pages.
Israel's prime minister also shared his congratulations, describing Huckabee as a "dear friend" in a post on X.
Advertisement
Related Words
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse