Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use dear in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Dear means high in price; expensive. Example: “The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.”

Examples of dear by meaning

adjectiveHigh in price; expensive.

  • The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.
  • This water is sold for 50 cents per ton, which is not dear under the circumstances.1902, Briquettes as Fuel in Foreign Countries (report of the United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce)
  • Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear.1966, The Beatles, “When I'm Sixty-Four”

adjectiveLoved; lovable.

  • And, of course, a dear little chicken with peas and roast potatoes."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 129

adjectiveLovely; kind.

  • What does he look like?" "Oh, he might look very much like you." "How dear of you to say that!"1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC

adjectiveLoving, affectionate, heartfelt.

  • Such dear embrace tenderly comforts even in this dear sorrow.

adjectivePrecious to or greatly valued by someone.

  • The dearer the giver, the dearer the trinket he brings!

adjectiveA formal way to start (often after my) addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly.

  • My dear friend, I feel better as soon as you come sit beside my sickbed!

adjectiveAn ironic way to start (often after my) addressing an inferior or someone one dislikes.

  • My dear man, you ought to think twice about who you're trying to blackmail.

nounA very kind, loving person.

  • My little cousin is such a dear, always drawing me pictures.

More sentences with dear

  • I need to call my dearest and tell her the news.From the entry dearest
  • His sister, his dearest and only playmate, is a tomboy at heart.From the entry tomboy
  • You need to water down the lemonade a bit more to make it less sweet, dear.From the entry water down
  • Would you be a dear and get me a cup of tea, please?From the entry cup of tea
  • Philip has been into goth for many years, haven't you dear?From the entry goth
  • Would you stop interrupting me, dear? It's a most provoking habit.From the entry provoking
  • I’ve got a terrible headache. – Have you, dear? Take this tablet and you won't anymore.From the entry have got
  • Those extra nights tacked onto his hotel stay will cost him dear.From the entry cost dear
  • It will cost him dear to tack additional nights onto his hotel stay.From the entry cost dear
  • This bracelet is a gift from my spouse, who I hold near and dear.From the entry near and dear
  • Writing has been near and dear to me for a long time.From the entry near and dear
  • Oh dear, he's left himself snookered behind the pink.From the entry pink
  • Don't put that in your mouth, dear. It's dirty.From the entry dirty
  • Listen, dear heart, we must go now.From the entry heart
  • I paid a call to a dear friend of mine.From the entry call
  • It was a tearful and heartfelt reunion as the trapped miners finally saw their dear loved ones again.From the entry reunion
  • My dearest wish is to see them happily married.From the entry wish
  • Oh, my dear, you really are too much.From the entry too much
  • Oh dear, I seem to have lost my ticket.From the entry oh dear
  • Their dearest wish was to alchemise iron into gold.From the entry alchemise
  • They’re laying siege to all we hold dear.From the entry lay siege
  • Come along, dear, there's no point crying over it.From the entry come along
  • The bus journey took forever, with old dears with their shopping trolleys getting on and off at every stop.From the entry old dear
  • Your dear friend ought to take heart. From what you have told me, it is quite likely that they are going through a dark night of the soul.From the entry dark night of the soul
  • I cinched the straps on my lifejacket a bit tighter and held on for dear life.2022, Amour Vincit Omnia, “Why The Price Of Love Is Pain”, in Agapé, volume 22, number 1, page 5. From the entry cinch
  • They said they preferred to HODL, or hold on for dear life, and keep speculating.2022 February 7, David Yaffe-Bellany, “They Made Millions on Luna, Solana and Polygon: Crypto’s Boom Beyond Bitcoin”, in The New York…. From the entry hodl
  • Dear Santa Clause, Thank you for the clothes you brought me last year.2022 December 21, “Letters to Santa Claus”, in Gazette-Journal. From the entry Santa Clause
  • “My dearest Nadja, you must be deucedly cross with me for my subterfuge.2021 October 28, Sam Johnson & Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms & Lauren Wells, “The Portrait” (24:50 from the start), in What We Do in the…. From the entry deucedly
  • 'Cheers, my dears,' chuckles Dottie, raising a glass and chinking it against ours.2021, Erin Green, From Shetland, With Love. From the entry cheers my dears
  • Alone at home, sans pants, but connected to nearest and dearest via group video chat.2021, Nick Mamatas, “The Man You Flee at Parties”, in Preston Grassmann, editor, Out of the Ruins, London: Titan Books, →ISBN. From the entry Blursday

Meaning of dear

  1. adjective High in price; expensive.
  2. adjective Loved; lovable.
  3. adjective Lovely; kind.

Full definition of dear

Questions about dear in a sentence

How do you use dear in a sentence?
Dear is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.”
What is a short sentence with dear?
“Listen, dear heart, we must go now.”
What does dear mean?
Dear means high in price; expensive.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dear (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 dear in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/dear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.