dear.
High in price; expensive.
Meaning & usage
High in price; expensive.
The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.
Loved; lovable.
Lovely; kind.
Loving, affectionate, heartfelt
Such dear embrace tenderly comforts even in this dear sorrow.
Precious to or greatly valued by someone.
The dearer the giver, the dearer the trinket he brings!
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:...
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!
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.
Noble.
Where this word comes from
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”).
A very kind, loving person.
My little cousin is such a dear, always drawing me pictures.
A beloved person.
An affectionate, familiar term of address, such as used between husband and wife.
Pass me the salt, would you dear?
An elderly person, especially a woman.
Where this word comes from
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”).
To endear.
Where this word comes from
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”).
Dearly; at a high price.
Where this word comes from
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”).
Indicating surprise, pity, or disapproval.
Dear, dear! Whatever were they thinking?
Where this word comes from
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”).
Severe, or severely affected; sore.
Fierce.
The Christens found the heathens dear, as the lion doth the bear.
Where this word comes from
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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.