Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use darling in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, adjective, verb

Darling means often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one. Example: “Pass the wine, would you, darling?”

Examples of darling by meaning

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

  • Pass the wine, would you, darling?
  • "Whate'er you say, dearling." Despite her insults, Geirolf could see the love glowing in her face and he was encouraged.1998 April, Sandra Hill, The Last Viking, New York, N.Y.: Love Spell Books, Dorchester Publishing, →ISBN, page 385
  • "I dinna ken, dearling," he said huskily.2006 April, Kate Forsyth, “Liberty of the Tower”, in The Shining City (Rhiannon’s Ride; 2), New York, N.Y.: Roc, →ISBN, page 81

nounA person who is kind, sweet, etc., and thus lovable; a pet, a sweetheart; also, an animal or thing which is cute and...

  • The girl next door picks up all my shopping for me. She is such a darling.

nounThe favourite child in a family.

  • Mary, the youngest daughter, was always her mother’s darling.
  • But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance, appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax, London; Melbourne, Vic.: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 3

nounA person (often a woman) or thing that is very popular with a certain group of people.

  • a media darling
  • a darling of the theatre

adjectiveVery dear; beloved, cherished, favourite.

  • She is my darling wife of twenty-two years.

adjectiveVery cute or lovable; adorable, charming, sweet.

  • Well, isn’t that a darling little outfit she has on?

verbTo call (someone) "darling" (noun sense 1).

  • Wonderful the way you stage people darling each other.1941 (date written), Terence Rattigan, Flare Path: A Play in Three Acts, London; New York, N.Y.: Samuel French, published 1943, →OCLC, Act...
  • All the Marys, Janes, Francoises and Mikis darlinged and honeyed me for a day or two then vanished for ever.1990, Khushwant Singh, “Bhagmati”, in Delhi, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, →ISBN, pages 108–109
  • He was darlinging his wife at every opportunity.2000, Maeve Binchy, Scarlet Feather, London: Orion, →ISBN, page 174

More sentences with darling

  • Dinner's ready, darling! – Be there in a min!From the entry min
  • Our darling baby was God's gift to us this year.From the entry God's gift
  • After several visits from his darling nephews, Mike's bookshelves were childproof; all breakables and valuable books had been moved out of reach.From the entry childproof
  • After the controversy of her public statement, she has been the darling of right-wing groups who have seized upon her as the poster child of their cause.From the entry seize upon
  • Most people dont get that kind of luck, so they protect their darling menders.2025 November 9, JustWelfare, “Why do people protect mending villagers so much?”, in r/Minecraft (Reddit post), archived from the original…. From the entry my steak is too juicy, my lobster is too buttery
  • You’ll immediately want to change your font to Garamond and start saying things like “Toodle-pip, darlings!”2022 September 28, Alexandra Jacobs, “Bright Young Things, Revisited: War Clouds a Childhood Idyll”, in The New York Times, New York…. From the entry toodle-pip
  • 'She has your temperament, my darling,' he smiled lovingly at his wife.2020, Jennifer Bacia, Whisper Her Name, Brio Books Pty Ltd, →ISBN. From the entry unfussable
  • 'I'd be careful where you put your luppers, darling,' said Albert Slater.2015, Alex Howard, A Hard Woman to Kill (DCI Hanlon Series; 3). From the entry lupper
  • The full-cut boyshort, the skimpy thong's polar opposite, becomes the latest darling to wear downstairs.2012, Rebecca Apsan, Lessons in Lingerie: Finding Your Perfect Shade of Seduction, →ISBN, page 87. From the entry boyshort
  • The poor little darling had so many mothers; she didn't know whether she was Arthur or Martha!2012, Marie-Therese Gould (Stein), Dirt to Scratch and Eggs to Lay: A Journey From Mitchell to Ma’s, Xlibris Corporation, page 241. From the entry know whether one is Arthur or Martha
  • "Oh, my poor doomed dovelings . . . my darling star-crossed daughters . . ."2007, Lucretia Cole, The King of Amphiboly. From the entry doveling
  • “It's those enormous ascenders, darling,” she said: “I see a lot of ego.”2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 1, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN. From the entry ascender
  • What would I tell him, “Sorry, darling, I was at Mickey D's”?2004, Mariane Pearl, A Mighty Heart: The Inside Story of the Al Qaeda Kidnapping of Danny Pearl, page 97. From the entry Mickey D's
  • “We'll give you a lift, darling,” Lady Genevieve said languidly, rising.2000, Carola Dunn, Rattle His Bones (2011 Macmillan ed.), p. 173 (Google preview). From the entry make a move
  • Go to sleep, my darling boy, while mother rockabyes you with her tender hand.1995, Jewish Currents, page 18. From the entry rockabye
  • 'Lucy you darling bobbasheely,' he coaxed her, 'there's nothing for you to be afraid of.1990, Graham Masterton, Empress, page 96. From the entry bobbasheely
  • TV Correspondent Alexander Krutkov became an overnight media darling with his piercing on-the-spot dispatches.1986 June 30, John Moody, “Gorbachev Loosens the Media's Reins”, in Time. From the entry media darling
  • Maggie Thatcher, you can't match her, she's the darling of us all.1983, “The Thatcher Song”performed by Seán Brady. From the entry hire purchase
  • For the last thirteen months, Beatles cofounder John Lennon has been Liverpool's darling.1964 March 24, Irvine Paris, “John Lennon in His Own Wrong: Farcical Poetry or Poetical Farce?”, in The Liverpool Herald. From the entry scintillating
  • All right, darling, Mother's coming,” she fluted, and buzzed off on the errand of mercy.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XIII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC. From the entry flute
  • There lay his stud of polished darlings, the belamped streamlined docile monsters of years of collecting.1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 304. From the entry belamped
  • Fortunately, she had bragged to everybody about her ducky first-floor apartment in the perfectly darling three-story red-brick.1942, James Thurber, The Catbird Seat. From the entry ducky
  • Little silk-eared kittens everywhere by the basketful—loads of darling pudgy puppies.1929, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Marigold Entertains”, in Magic for Marigold, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland and Stewart, →OCLC, section 4…. From the entry rain cats and dogs
  • Alvin darling, it won’t be hard, I tell you, after the first ice is broken.1916, Cosmopolitan, page 40. From the entry popsie
  • So let each one seek what he fain would find, The darling boon of grace and goodlyhead.1909, Giovanni (Fiorentino), The Pecornne of Ser Giovanni - Volume 6, page 95. From the entry goodlyhead
  • Those little souvenir spoons she sent up with the chocolate yesterday are perfect darlings.1900, Annie Fellows Johnston, “‘Found Out’”, in The Little Colonel’s House Party, Boston, Mass.: The Page Company, published February…. From the entry think the world of
  • “You might have to calm this down, my darling.2022 July 12, Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms, “Reunited” (9:01 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 4, episode 1. From the entry settee

Meaning of darling

  1. noun Often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.
  2. noun A person who is kind, sweet, etc., and thus lovable; a pet, a sweetheart; also, an animal or thing which is cute and lovable.
  3. noun A favourite.

Full definition of darling

Questions about darling in a sentence

How do you use darling in a sentence?
Darling is used as a noun, adjective and verb. For example: “Pass the wine, would you, darling?”
What is a short sentence with darling?
“a media darling”
What does darling mean?
Darling means often used as an affectionate term of address: a person who is very dear to one.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: darling (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use darling in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/darling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.