DEAR • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Dear

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adjective

Dear adj. (compar. dearer; superl. dearest)

Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive. "The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear."

Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year.

Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. "Hear me, dear lady." "Neither count I my life dear unto myself." "And the last joy was dearer than the rest." "Dear as remember'd kisses after death."

Hence, close to the heart; heartfelt; present in mind; engaging the attention.

(a)

Of agreeable things and interests. "(I'll) leave you to attend him: some dear cause Will in concealment wrap me up awhile." "His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle and glitter of Whitehall."

(b)

Of disagreeable things and antipathies. "In our dear peril." "Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day."

noun

Dear n. A dear one; lover; sweetheart. "That kiss I carried from thee, dear."

adverb

Dear adv. Dearly; at a high price. "If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear."

verb

Dear v. t. To endear. (Obs.)

See images of 'Dear'

Etymology of 'Dear'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Dear" Quotes from Famous Books

... Remember, my dear hearers, who are thus thinking, that political economy, like every other subject, cannot be dealt with effectively if we try to solve two questions at a time instead of one. It is one question, how to get plenty of a thing; and another, whether ...

— A Joy For Ever - (And Its Price in the Market) • John Ruskin

... nuns, who received her courteously and gave her of their best to eat and to drink. When she was refreshed, she asked if any other had sought shelter with them that day; and they told her that King Arthur lay in an inner chamber and slept, for he had rested little for three nights. "Ah! my dear lord!" exclaimed the false sorceress; "gladly would I speak with him, but I will not that ye awaken him, and long I may not tarry here; wherefore surfer me at least to look upon him as he sleeps, and then will I continue my journey." And the nuns, suspecting no treachery, showed Queen Morgan le Fay ...

— Stories from Le Morte D'Arthur and the Mabinogion • Beatrice Clay

... "My dear, I have seen many prisoners; they were sad, one or two days, but by degrees they fell in with the rest, and the most sorrowful at first often became the most gay. Germain is not so; he appears ...

— Mysteries of Paris, V3 • Eugene Sue

... fear of life gushes suddenly to muddy the dear wellspring of sensation, and the poet, beaten ...

— Rosinante to the Road Again • John Dos Passos

... prostration of strength, or altered features, until the chill of hopelessness creeps over the hearts of the sisters, and hot tears fill their watching eyes, and prayers tremble upon their pale lips, as in silence they wait for the dread hour of death to their dear ...

— Parish Papers • Norman Macleod

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