dear
UK /dɪə/ · US /dɪɹ/ adjective, noun, verb, adverb, interjection, proper noun
Forms dearer dearest dears dearing deared deere deare
- adjective (Ireland, UK, NZ (dated)) High in price; expensive. “The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.”
- adjective Loved; lovable.
- adjective Lovely; kind.
- adjective Loving, affectionate, heartfelt “Such dear embrace tenderly comforts even in this dear sorrow.”
- adjective Precious to or greatly valued by someone. “The dearer the giver, the dearer the trinket he brings!”
- adjective A formal way to start (possibly after my) addressing somebody at the beginning of a letter, memo etc. “Dear Sir/Madam/Miss, please notice our offices will be closed during the following bank holidays:[…].”
- adjective A formal way to start (often after my) addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly. “My dear friend, I feel better as soon as you come sit beside my sickbed!”
- adjective An ironic way to start (often after my) addressing an inferior or someone one dislikes. “My dear man, you ought to think twice about who you're trying to blackmail.”
- noun A very kind, loving person. “My little cousin is such a dear, always drawing me pictures.”
- noun A beloved person.
- noun An affectionate, familiar term of address, such as used between husband and wife. “Pass me the salt, would you dear?”
- noun An elderly person, especially a woman.
- verb (obsolete) To endear.
- adverb Dearly; at a high price.
- interjection Indicating surprise, pity, or disapproval. “Dear, dear! Whatever were they thinking?”
- adjective Severe, or severely affected; sore.
- adjective (obsolete) Fierce. “The Christens found the heathens dear, as the lion doth the bear.”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
costly lickpenny spenny 5-star big-ticket chargeful cheap at half the price costful cost-prohibitive fancy dearthful dispendious ex expenny expensive exy high-cost million-dollar high-priced princely beloved dearest honey love lamb darling good near devout earnest
Etymology
From Middle English dere, from Old English dēore, dīere, dīore, dȳre (“of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *diurī, from Proto-Germanic *diurijaz (“dear, precious; expensive”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn; hot, warm”).
Cognate with Yola dear (“dear”), Saterland Frisian djuur (“precious, dear, costly, expensive”), Alemannic German tüür (“expensive”), Dutch dier, duur (“expensive”), German teuer (“expensive”), Vilamovian taojer, tojer (“dear”), West Flemish diere (“expensive”), Yiddish טײַער (tayer, “expensive”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish dyr (“expensive”), Faroese dýrur (“expensive”), Icelandic dýr (“expensive”), Finnish tyyris (“expensive”), Livonian tõurõz (“dear”), Northern Sami divrras (“expensive”).
From Middle English dere (“fierce, severe, hard, deadly”), from Old English dēor, dȳr (“brave, bold; severe, dire, vehement”), from Proto-Germanic *deuzaz. Cognate with the above.
English surname, related to the adjective dear and noun deer (from Old English deor (“wild animal”), used in many senses).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive.
- adjective Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year.
- noun A dear one; lover; sweetheart.
- adverb Dearly; at a high price.
Etymology [OE. dere, deore, AS. deóre; akin to OS. diuri, D. duur, OHG. tiuri, G. theuer, teuer, Icel. d, Dan. & Sw. dyr. Cf. Darling, Dearth.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dear”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details