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dear

adj
/dɪə/UK/dɪɹ/US/diə/

Etymology

From Middle English dere, from Old English dīere (“of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *diurī, from Proto-Germanic *diurijaz (“dear, precious, expensive”). Cognate with Scots dere, deir (“of great value or worth, highly valued, precious, beloved”), Saterland Frisian djuur (“precious, dear, costly, expensive”), Dutch duur (“costly, precious”), German teuer (“costly, precious”), German Low German düür, Danish dyr (“expensive”), Swedish dyr (“expensive”), Norwegian dyr (“expensive”), Icelandic dýr (“expensive”), Yiddish טייַער (tayer, “precious, expensive”).

  1. inherited from *diurijaz✻ — “dear, precious, expensive”
  2. inherited from *diurī✻
  3. inherited from dīere — “of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”
  4. inherited from dere

Definitions

  1. High in price

    High in price; expensive.

    • The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.
    • There's more depends on this than on the value. The dearest ring in Venice will I give you, And find it out by proclamation: Only for this, I pray you, pardon me.
    • This water is sold for 50 cents per ton, which is not dear under the circumstances.

  2. Loved

    Loved; lovable.

    • "Yes, children dear, wait a bit till it turns itself," she answered - she ought to have said "till I turn it"[.]
    • "We shall have to put up with whitebait. And, of course, a dear little chicken with peas and roast potatoes."

  3. Lovely

    Lovely; kind.

    • "I've never met the kind of man I mean." "Tell me about him. What does he look like?" "Oh, he might look very much like you." "How dear of you to say that!"
  4. ›+ 16 more definitions

    1. Loving, affectionate, heartfelt

      • Such dear embrace tenderly comforts even in this dear sorrow.

    2. Precious to or greatly valued by someone.

      • The dearer the giver, the dearer the trinket he brings!
      • […] dear as sacramental wine To dying lips is all he said […].

    3. A formal way to start (possibly after my) addressing somebody at the beginning of a…

      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:[…].
      • Dearest Joseph/son:...

    4. 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!

    5. 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.

    6. Noble.

    7. A very kind, loving person.

      • My little cousin is such a dear, always drawing me pictures.

    8. A beloved person.

    9. An affectionate, familiar term of address, such as used between husband and wife.

      • Pass me the salt, would you dear?

    10. An elderly person, especially a woman.

    11. To endear.

      • Nor should a Sonne his Sire loue for reward, But for he is his Sire, in nature dear’d.
      • I should have known no less: It hath been taught us from the primal state That he which is was wished until he were; And the ebbed man, ne'er loved till ne'er worth love, Comes deared by being lacked.
      • Nay, hide him in thy house, and also show Such deared love to him, as to delight In his base company both day and night?

    12. Dearly

      Dearly; at a high price.

      • If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear.

    13. Indicating surprise, pity, or disapproval.

      • Dear, dear! Whatever were they thinking?

    14. Severe, or severely affected

      Severe, or severely affected; sore.

    15. Fierce.

      • The Christens found the heathens dear, as the lion doth the bear.

    16. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

Dear Colleague letter, dear diary, dear God, dear heart, dearheart, dearie, dearish, Dear Jane letter, dearling, dear Lord, dearly, dear me, dearness, dear Sir, dear sirs, dearsome, dearth, dearworth, deary, elementary, my dear Watson, endear, endearer, endearing, endearment, for dear life, my dear fellow, near and dear, nearest and dearest, old dear, overdear, please excuse my dear Aunt Sally, undear, unendearing, hold dear, oh dear, the dear knows

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at dear. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01dear02expensive03lavish04unrestrained05physical06nature07special

A definitional loop anchored at dear. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at dear

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA