Word.ws English Dictionary

darling

Syllables: dar·lingUK/ˈdɑːlɪŋ//ˈdɑɹlɪŋ/

darling noun: often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.

Noun

darling (plural darlings)

  1. Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
    • Pass the wine, would you, darling?
    • [I]t is better to be / An old mans derling than a yong mans werling.1546, John Heywood, chapter VII, in Julian Sharman, editor, The Proverbs of John Heywood. […], London: George Bell and Sons, […], published 1874, →OCLC, part II, page 138
  2. A person who is kind, sweet, etc., and thus lovable; a pet, a sweetheart; also, an animal or thing which is cute and lovable.
    • The girl next door picks up all my shopping for me. She is such a darling.
    • When the Crocodile Queen came home, she found / That her eggs were broken and scattered around, / And that six young Princes, darlings all, / Were missing, for none of them answer'd her call.1838, Robert Southey, “The King of the Crocodiles. Part II.”, in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey. […], volume VI, London: […] [Andrew Spottiswoode] for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans...
  3. A favourite.
    • And in ſo muche the more peril and haſard of the ſaid diſeaſes [“ambicion, auarice, riottous exceſſe, hatred, enuye, and ſuche others”] do the princes ſtand, as they are more then others made wantons ⁊ derelynges of fortune, and haue lybertie withoute checke or controllemente to fulfyll their owne...1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Ghospell of S. Luke. The Preface of Erasmus vnto His Paraphrase vpon the Ghospell of Luke. Unto...
    • [T]hat handkercher / Did an Egyptian to my mother giue, / […] ſhe told her vvhile ſhe kept it, / Tvvould make her amiable, and ſubdue my father / Intirely to her loue: […] [T]ake heed on't, / Make it [the handkerchief] a darling, like your pretious eye, / To looſe, or giue avvay, vvere ſuch...c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act...
    1. The favourite child in a family.
      • Mary, the youngest daughter, was always her mother’s darling.
      • And tis a common obſervation in Familites, that the moſt diſcountenanc'd child oft makes better proof, then the dearling.1675, [Richard Allestree], “Sect[ion] IV. Of the Surplusage of our Enjoinments above Our Sufferings.”, in The Art of Contentment. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the [Sheldonian] Theater […], →OCLC...
    2. (broadly) A person (often a woman) or thing that is very popular with a certain group of people.
      • a media darling
      • a darling of the theatre
    3. (obsolete) A royal favourite, the intimate companion of a monarch or other royal personage, often delegated significant political power.
      • When kyng Henry perceiued, that the cõmons [commons] wer thus ſtomacked and bent, againſt the Quenes [Margaret of Anjou's] dearlynge William [de la Pole,] Duke of Suffolke, he plainly ſawe, that neither gloſyng woulde ſette, nor diſſimulacion coulde appeace, the continuall clamor of the importunate...a. 1548 (date written), Edward Hall, Richard Grafton, “[The Troubleous Season of Kyng Henry the Sixt.] The .XXVIII. Yere.”, in The Vnion of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre & Yorke...
      • She [Caroline of Ansbach] immediately became the darling of the Princeſs Sophia [Charlotte of Hanover], vvho vvas acknovvledged in all the Courts of Europe the moſt accompliſhed vvoman of the age in vvhich ſhe lived, and vvho vvas not a little pleaſed vvith the converſation of one in vvhom ſhe ſavv...1716 March 12 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 21. Thursday, March 2. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob...

Adjective

darling (comparative more darling or (rare) darlinger, superlative most darling or (rare) darlingest)

  1. Very dear; beloved, cherished, favourite.
    • She is my darling wife of twenty-two years.
    • Do thou dred infant, Venus dearling doue, / From her high ſpirit chaſe imperious feare, / And vſe of avvfull Maieſtie remoue: […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 5, page 2
  2. (affected) Very cute or lovable; adorable, charming, sweet.
    • Well, isn’t that a darling little outfit she has on?
    • Isn't it the darlingest, sweetest, prettiest, little dear darling darling! Oh! did you ever!!1854 March 4, Punch, or The London Charivari, volume XXVI, number 660, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 116

Verb

darling (third-person singular simple present darlings, present participle darlinging, simple past and past participle darlinged)

  1. (informal, transitive) To call (someone) "darling" (noun sense 1).
    • The frisky female, we have noticed, has one most unpleasant trick; it is that of darlinging and duckeying and otherwise spooneying her husband … in public. He is invariably, invariably set down as an ass, without its being in the least his fault.1870, Hugh Rowley, chapter XVIII, in Gamosagammon; or, Hints on Hymen. […], London: John Camden Hotten, […], →OCLC, page 139
    • Hullo! oh! Maud, darling, I wanted to know— / Great snakes, it's not she!—I want Miss Maud DeVaux.— / I think that I "darlinged" the old man that time. / If I did, I'll sell cheap,—this lot marked down,—one dime.1882 September 22, “By Telephone”, in H. S. Underwood, editor, The Argo, volume II, number 6, Williamstown, Mass.: Williams College, →OCLC, page 75, column 2

Proper noun capitalized: Darling

Darling (countable and uncountable, plural Darlings)

  1. An English and Scottish surname transferred from the nickname, originally a nickname from darling.
    • Richard and David Darling, founders of Codemasters, a multimillion-pound computer game company, dropped out of school aged 15 and 16 to write computer games […]2005, Michael Dowling, Jürgen Schmude, Dodo zu Knyphausen-Aufsess, Advances in Interdisciplinary European Entrepreneurship Research
  2. A small town in the Western Cape province, South Africa.
  3. A census-designated place in Quitman County, Mississippi, United States.
  4. A major river of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia; Named after Governor Ralph Darling, British colonial administrator.
    Synonyms:
    Darling River, River Darling
  5. Synonym of Baagandji; Ellipsis of Darling language; The Australian aboriginal language spoken along this river in New South Wales.
    Synonyms:
    Baagandji

darling meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

darling in Hindi

often used as an affectionate term of address: person who is very dear to one
प्रिय priya, प्रिया priyā, प्रियतम priytam, प्रियतमा priyatmā
very dear — see also beloved, cherished, favourite
प्रियतम priytam, प्रियतमा priyatmā
very cute or lovable — see also adorable, charming, sweet
आकर्षक ākarṣak, मोहक mohak

darling in Tamil

often used as an affectionate term of address: person who is very dear to one
ஆருயிர் āruyir
very dear — see also beloved, cherished, favourite
அன்பு aṉpu, நேச nēca

darling in Urdu

darling, dear, beloved
پیارا pyārā
darling, dear, boy
منا munnā
a darling, dear
لاڈلی lāḍlī
darling
لال lāl, راجا rājā

darling in Bengali

often used as an affectionate term of address: person who is very dear to one
দিলরুবা dilruba
very cute or lovable — see also adorable, charming, sweet
দিলরুবা dilruba
More languagesFewer languages
darling in Malayalam
പ്രിയതമൻ priyatamaṉ, പ്രിയതമ priyatama, പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട priyappeṭṭa
darling in Kannada
ನಲ್ಲ, ನಲ್ಲೆ, ಬೇಟವೆಣ್, ಬೇಟವೆಣ್ಣು
darling in Punjabi
ਸਨਮ sanam, ਮੱਖਣ makkhaṇ
darling in Gujarati
પ્યારું pyārũ
darling in Nepali
नैनु nainu
darling in Pashto
جانان jānān
darling in Arabic
حَبِيب ḥabīb, حَبِيبَة ḥabība
darling in Malay
sayang
darling in Indonesian
sayang
darling in Persian
دلارام delârâm, دلبر delbar, دلدار deldâr, یار yâr
darling in Thai
ที่รัก tîi-rák
Dzongkha
སྙིང་སྡུག snying sdug

Examples of darling in a sentence

  • Feare ye not (ô darling) on thy ſide deſtinie runneth.1582, Virgil, “The Firste Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […]...
  • How ſhall I, void of tears, her death relate, / VVhile on her darling’s bed her mother ſate!1714, J[ohn] Gay, “Friday; or, The Dirge”, in The Shepherd’s Week. In Six Pastorals, London: […] R. Burleigh […], →OCLC, page 47, lines...
  • Sleep, sweet babe! my cares beguiling: / Mother sits beside thee smiling: / Sleep, my darling, tenderly!1793–1817 (date written), S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “The Virgin’s Cradle-hymn. Copied from a Print of the Virgin, in a Catholic Village...
  • My first, last love; the idol of my youth, / The darling of my manhood, and, alas! / Now the most blessed memory of mine age.1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Gardener’s Daughter; or, The Pictures”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 32:

All 40 example sentences with darling

Synonyms of darling

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of darling

Forms of darling

Noun
pluraldarlings
alternative formdarlin'
alternative formdarlint
alternative formdearling
Adjective
comparativemore darling
superlativemost darling
comparative (rare)darlinger
superlative (rare)darlingest
Verb
third-person singular presentdarlings
present participledarlinging
past participledarlinged
pastdarlinged
Proper noun
pluralDarlings

Plural of darling: darlings

Origin of darling

The noun is derived from Middle English dereling, derelyng (“beloved person; beloved of God, devout Christian”), from Old English dīerling, dēorling (“favourite, darling; minion”), from Proto-West Germanic *diuriling, from Proto-Germanic *diurijalingaz, from *diurijaz (“beloved, dear; expensive”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“hot, warm; to burn”), or *dweh₂- (“distant, long; to remove, separate”)) + *-ilingaz (suffix forming (diminutive) nouns with the sense of ‘belonging to; coming from’). By surface analysis, dear + -ling (suffix meaning ‘immature; small’). The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun. The verb is also derived from the noun.

From darling.

Words formed from darling

Phrases with darling

Words that rhyme with darling

Questions about darling

What does darling mean?
Darling means often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
What is darling in Hindi?
Darling in Hindi is प्रिय (priya), प्रिया (priyā), प्रियतम (priytam). See Darling meaning in Hindi.
How do you use darling in a sentence?
Feare ye not (ô darling) on thy ſide deſtinie runneth.
What part of speech is darling?
Darling can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce darling?
Darling is pronounced /ˈdɑːlɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of darling?
The plural of darling is darlings.

Words near darling in the dictionary

  1. Darleys
  2. Darlimurla
  3. darlin'
  4. darlin's
  5. Darline
  6. darling
  7. Darling Downs hopping mouse
  8. Darling Harbour
  9. Darling lily
  10. Darling pea
  11. Darling peas

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: darling (page history and authors); Darling (page history and authors); راجا (Urdu) (page history and authors); darling (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਮੱਖਣ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); પ્યારું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); नैनु (Nepali) (page history and authors); جانان (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-darling.ogg.

Cite this entry: “darling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/darling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.