Adjacent Words

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEAR, a.
1. Scarce; not plentiful.
2. Bearing a high price in comparison of the usual price; more costly than usual; of a higher price than the customary one. Wheat is dear at a dollar a bushel, when the usual price is seventy five cents. This is the effect of scarcity and demand.
3. Of a high value in estimation; greatly valued; beloved; precious.
And the last joy was dearer than the rest.
Be ye followers of God, as dear children. Ephesians 5.
DEAR, a. Hurtful; grievous; hateful.
DEAR, v.t. To make dear.
DEAR, n. A darling; a word denoting tender affection or endearment; as, my dear.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: dearly loved [syn: beloved, darling, dear]
2: with or in a close or intimate relationship; "a good friend"; "my sisters and brothers are near and dear" [syn: dear, good, near]
3: earnest; "one's dearest wish"; "devout wishes for their success"; "heartfelt condolences" [syn: dear, devout, earnest, heartfelt]
4: having a high price; "costly jewelry"; "high-priced merchandise"; "much too dear for my pocketbook"; "a pricey restaurant" [syn: costly, dear, high-priced, pricey, pricy] n
1: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment [syn: beloved, dear, dearest, honey, love]
2: a sweet innocent mild-mannered person (especially a child) [syn: lamb, dear] adv
1: with affection; "she loved him dearly"; "he treats her affectionately" [syn: dearly, affectionately, dear]
2: at a great cost; "he paid dearly for the food"; "this cost him dear" [syn: dearly, dear]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English dere, from Old English d?or Date: before 12th century severe, sore <in our dear peril — Shakespeare> II. adjective Etymology: Middle English dere, from Old English d?ore; akin to Old High German tiuri distinguished, costly Date: before 12th century 1. obsolete noble 2. highly valued ; precious <a dear friend> — often used in a salutation <dear Sir> 3. affectionate, fond 4. high or exorbitant in price ; expensive <eggs are very dear just now> 5. heartfelt <our dearest prayers> • dearness noun III. adverb Date: before 12th century 1. dearly 3 <the effort cost them dear> 2. dearly 1 <so dear I loved the man — Shakespeare> IV. noun Date: 13th century 1. a loved one ; sweetheart 2. a lovable person V. interjection Date: 1694 — used especially to express annoyance or dismay

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., adv., & int. --adj. 1 a beloved or much esteemed. b as a merely polite or ironic form (my dear man). 2 used as a formula of address, esp. at the beginning of letters (Dear Sir). 3 (often foll. by to) precious; much cherished. 4 (usu. in superl.) earnest, deeply felt (my dearest wish). 5 a high-priced relative to its value. b having high prices. c (of money) available as a loan only at a high rate of interest. --n. (esp. as a form of address) dear person. --adv. at a high price or great cost (buy cheap and sell dear; will pay dear). --int. expressing surprise, dismay, pity, etc. (dear me!; oh dear!; dear, dear!). Phrases and idioms: Dear John colloq. a letter terminating a personal relationship. for dear life see LIFE. Derivatives: dearly adv. (esp. in sense 3 of adj.). dearness n. Etymology: OE deore f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dear Dear, v. t. To endear. [Obs.] --Shelton.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dear Dear, a. [Compar. Dearer; superl. Dearest.] [OE. dere, deore, AS. de['o]re; akin to OS. diuri, D. duur, OHG. tiuri, G. theuer, teuer, Icel. d?r, Dan. & Sw. dyr. Cf. Darling, Dearth.] 1. Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive. The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear. --Shak. 2. Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year. 3. Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. ``Hear me, dear lady.'' --Shak. Neither count I my life dear unto myself. --Acts xx. 24. And the last joy was dearer than the rest. --Pope. Dear as remember'd kisses after death. --Tennyson. 4. 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. --Shak. His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle and glitter of Whitehall. --Macaulay. (b) Of disagreeable things and antipathies. In our dear peril. --Shak. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day. --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dearer, dearest, dears) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. You use dear to describe someone or something that you feel affection for. Mrs Cavendish is a dear friend of mine... ADJ: ADJ n 2. If something is dear to you or dear to your heart, you care deeply about it. This is a subject very dear to the hearts of academics up and down the country. ADJ: v-link ADJ to n 3. You use dear in expressions such as 'my dear fellow', 'dear girl', or 'my dear Richard' when you are addressing someone whom you know and are fond of. You can also use expressions like this in a rude way to indicate that you think you are superior to the person you are addressing. (BRIT) Of course, Toby, my dear fellow, of course... ADJ: ADJ n [feelings] 4. Dear is written at the beginning of a letter, followed by the name or title of the person you are writing to. Dear Peter, I have been thinking about you so much during the past few days... ADJ: ADJ n 5. In British English, you begin formal letters with 'Dear Sir' or 'Dear Madam'. In American English, you begin them with 'Sir' or 'Madam'. (WRITTEN) 'Dear sir,' she began. CONVENTION 6. You can call someone dear as a sign of affection. You're a lot like me, dear... N-VOC [feelings] 7. You can use dear in expressions such as 'oh dear', 'dear me', and 'dear, dear' when you are sad, disappointed, or surprised about something. 'Oh dear, oh dear.' McKinnon sighed. 'You, too.' EXCLAM [feelings] 8. If you say that something is dear, you mean that it costs a lot of money, usually more than you can afford or more than you think it should cost. (mainly BRIT INFORMAL) CDs here are much dearer than in the States... = expensive ? cheap ADJ: usu v-link ADJ [disapproval] 9. If something that someone does costs them dear, they suffer a lot as a result of it. Such complacency is costing the company dear. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Costly, expensive, high-priced, at a high price, of great price. 2. Precious, beloved, darling, much loved, highly esteemed or valued. 3. Earnest, deep, passionate, intense, furious. II. n. See darling, n.

Moby Thesaurus

admired, adored, affectionate, angel, at a premium, at great cost, at great expense, at heavy cost, babe, baby, baby-doll, beloved, beloved object, beyond price, buttercup, cherished, cherub, chick, chickabiddy, costly, crush, darling, dear one, dear-bought, dearly, dearly beloved, deary, devoted, doll, doting, duck, duckling, esteemed, expensive, fancy, favored, favorite, fond, golden, good as gold, heartthrob, held dear, high, high-priced, hon, honey, honey bunch, honey child, honored, inestimable, invaluable, lamb, lambkin, light of love, love, loved, loved one, lover, lovesome, luxurious, not affordable, of great cost, of great price, pet, petkins, popular, precious, precious heart, premium, priceless, pricey, prized, revered, rich, snookums, steep, stiff, sugar, sumptuous, sweet, sweetheart, sweetie, sweetkins, sweets, top, treasure, treasured, truelove, unpayable, valuable, valued, venerated, well-beloved, well-liked, white-haired, worthy