Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Much loved; darling.
- At a dear rate; at a high price.
- Richly; choicely.
- With great fondness; fondly; affectionately: as, we love our children dearly; dearly beloved brethren.
- Earnestly; strongly; heartily.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In a dear manner; with affection; heartily; earnestly.
- adverb At a high rate or price; grievously.
- adverb obsolete Exquisitely.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb In a
dear manner.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb in a sincere and heartfelt manner
- adverb with affection
- adverb at a great cost
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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I, her daughter, tell you that for her every tear, every heart pang, every sigh, _you_ shall pay dearly; _dearly!
Madeline Payne, the Detective's Daughter Lawrence L. Lynch
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It is a title dearly enough bought by most men, to render it endurable, even when not quite clearly made out, which it never _can_ be, till the Posterity, whose decisions are merely dreams to ourselves, have sanctioned or denied it, while it can touch us no further.
Literary Character of Men of Genius Drawn from Their Own Feelings and Confessions Isaac Disraeli 1807
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Boris, who I love dearly, is furious about the rampant double standards of those dreadful Tabloid Newspapers.
Archive 2007-02-18 Newmania 2007
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Boris, who I love dearly, is furious about the rampant double standards of those dreadful Tabloid Newspapers.
Boris Peeved With Tabloids Shock Story Newmania 2007
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What if there was a telephone to heaven ... and you called your dearly departed, and they said "i'm glad i'm not with you anymore. leave me alone. just leave me alone."
wench77 Diary Entry wench77 2003
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Mrs. Manning! she sometimes thought that proud title dearly purchased by listening to his daily criticisms on appearance, language, manners, which had been esteemed stylish enough in their day.
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There, he met Dolge Donovan-Smith, a teacher whom he called his "dearly beloved friend, brother and dad."
NYT > Home Page By JUSTIN G. SULLIVAN 2011
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And don't say mine, because even though that will make me smile and love you dearly, that isn't the point.
January 2008 2008
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And don't say mine, because even though that will make me smile and love you dearly, that isn't the point.
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He spoke for a while, recalling the dearly departed, and then (when all the audience were in the room) said that he would now lead them in the dead man's favourite hymn - Jerusalem.
March 26th, 2006 dame_habonde 2006
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