Link Centre Dictionary

dear

UK/dɪə/ US/dɪɹ/ very common uk
adjective (4) noun (2) adverb (2)

adjective

1.

dearly loved

Synonyms
Similar
2.

with or in a close or intimate relationship

  • “a good friend”
  • “my sisters and brothers are near and dear”
Synonyms
Similar
3.

earnest

  • “one”
  • “;”
  • “;”
Synonyms
Similar
4.

having a high price

  • “costly jewelry”
  • “high-priced merchandise”
  • “much too dear for my pocketbook”
  • “a pricey restaurant”
Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.
2.

adverb

1.

with affection

  • “she loved him dearly”
  • “he treats her affectionately”
Synonyms
2.

at a great cost

  • “he paid dearly for the food”
  • “this cost him dear”
Synonyms

Origin

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”). Cognates 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”).

Phrases

  • Dear Colleague letter
  • dear diary
  • dear God
  • dear heart
  • Dear Jane letter
  • dear Lord
  • dear me
  • dear Sir
  • hold dear
  • oh dear
  • the dear knows

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.