Skip to content

dear

/dɪɹ/noun, adjective, adverb1 syllable

Dear means: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment.

Synonyms for dear41

noun, as in a beloved person; used as terms of endearment

beloved, dearest, honey, love, baby, darling, deary, dearie, sweetheart, sweetie

noun, as in a sweet innocent mild-mannered person (especially a child)

lamb

adjective, as in having a high price

costly, high-priced, pricey, pricy, expensive

adjective, as in sincerely earnest

devout, earnest, heartfelt, sincere

adjective, as in dearly loved

beloved, darling, loved

adjective, as in with or in a close or intimate relationship

good, near, close

adverb, as in with affection

dearly, affectionately

adverb, as in at a great cost

dearly

also used for dear

lickpenny, spenny, 5-star, big-ticket, chargeful, cheap at half the price, costful, cost-prohibitive, lief, lovely, precious, favoured, lovable, benevolent, benign

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What does dear mean?8

noun

1

a beloved person; used as terms of endearment

2

a sweet innocent mild-mannered person (especially a child)

adjective

1

having a high price“costly jewelry”

2

sincerely earnest“one's dearest wish”

3

dearly loved

4

with or in a close or intimate relationship“a good friend”

adverb

1

with affection“she loved him dearly”

2

at a great cost“he paid dearly for the food”

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

What rhymes with dear?50

Show 40 near rhymes
inisitwiththishisifwillwhichbeenitshimthinkdidyearsstillsincethingsthinggivebiguntilshitwithinwinbithitsixkidslistbringkilledmissfilmwishkingbillliveskillpick

All 50 rhymes for dear, grouped by syllable

Dear in a sentence

  • Give me an olive and some salami, my dear.Nylez
  • My dear, maybe you are hiding something from me!sixtynine
  • Dear sir, let us kiss each other goodbye.AlanF_US
  • I have followed your advice, my dear colleague.al_ex_an_der
  • Oh dear, oh my, you're going to die.Ooneykcall
  • Be a dear, and get me a glass of water.CK
  • If you like your cheeks so much, my dear, even the dog has them.AmarMecheri
  • Dear friends, many thanks for the birthday wishes.AlanF_US

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of dear

as a noun

plural
dears

as a adjective

comparative
dearer
superlative
dearest