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# dear

«dear» in Mova's school dictionary: **loved or very much liked: «my dear friend»** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (dear, dearer, dearest); noun (dear, dears); interjection (oh dear)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Dear means loved or very much liked: «my dear friend». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#m1)

2) Dear is the polite word at the start of a letter: «Dear Grandma». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#m2)

3) In shops (mostly UK), dear means costing a lot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#m3)

4) «Dear» is a kind word for a person you love: «Thank you, dear». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#m4)

5) «Oh dear!» shows you are sorry or worried. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

at the start of a letter (story only); or «dearer» meaning more expensive; in writing lessons: letters start with «Dear …,»; in everyday life: «oh dear» when something goes wrong; it tells the reader about love, politeness or a high price

### examples

- Dear Grandma, I have 5 new books. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x1)
- The red bag is dearer than the blue one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x2)
- Apples are $2 dearer this week. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x3)
- Which toy is the dearest? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x4)
- Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to ask about the club. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x5)
- She is a dear friend of my mother's. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x6)
- Oh dear, I've spilt my juice! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x7)
- Thank you, dear, that is very kind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x8)
- "That is for Hereafterthis, my dear." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/#x9)

### note

As «costly» it compares prices: «$2 dearer» means add 2. In a letter it carries no clue. Homophone: deer (the animal) sounds the same. «Dear» meaning expensive is more British; Americans say «expensive».

### In the corpora

- [A credit score is a rating of how reliably someone pays; missing payments lowers it and makes borrowing harder and dearer.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/18/)
- [The White Rabbit has pink eyes and says "Oh dear!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/1-alice-ch1-part1-down-the-rabbit-hole/7/)
- [The Duchess greets Alice: «You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old thing!»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/17-alice-the-mock-turtles-story-1/11/)
- [Toad's «feeble voice»: «Thank you so much, dear Ratty!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/47-willows-ch6-part3-toad-tricks-the-rat/19/)
- [«What's become of them, the dear fellows?](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/67-willows-ch11-part3-badger-and-mole-come-home/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «dear» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/dear/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.