- Dearused at the beginning of a letter before the name or title of the person that you are writing to
- Dear Sir or Madam
- Dear Mrs Jones
- Dear Beth/Dad/Aunt Susan
- (old-fashioned) My dear sister
- loved by or important to somebody
- He's one of my dearest friends.
- They are grieving over their dear departed ones.
- dear to somebody Her daughter is very dear to her.
- They lost everything that was dear to them.
Homophones dear | deerdear deer/dɪə(r)//dɪr/- dear adjective
- Kate is a very dear friend of mine.
- dear noun
- Congratulations, my dear!
- deer noun
- Several deer emerged from the forest.
- [only before noun] (old-fashioned) used in speech or writing to address somebody in a polite or friendly way
- Martin, my dear fellow…
- Take my advice, dear reader.
- [not usually before noun] (British English) expensive; costing a lot of money
- Everything's so dear now, isn't it?
- There was a shortage of potatoes, and they became dear.
Word OriginOld English dēore, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dier ‘beloved’, also to Dutch duur and German teuer ‘expensive’.
Idioms
See dear in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee dear in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishclose/dear/near to somebody’s heart
- having a lot of importance and interest for somebody
dear old/little…
- used to describe somebody in a way that shows love
- Dear old Sue! I knew she'd help.
- Their baby's a dear little thing.
- It's always good to hear from dear old Harry!
for dear life | for your life
- as hard or as fast as possible
- She was holding on to the rope for dear life.
- Run for your life!
hang/hold on for dear life (North American English, British English)
(also hang/hold on for/like grim death British English)
- (informal) to hold somebody/something very tightly because you are afraid
hold somebody/something dear
- (formal) to care very much for somebody/something; to value somebody/something highly
- He had destroyed everything we held dear.
your nearest and dearest
- (informal) your close family and friends
Check pronunciation:
dear