Basic Details
Word: Dear
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Loved very much; also used at the start of a letter. In British and Indian English it can also mean costly.
Synonyms: beloved, precious, darling, costly
Antonyms: cheap, hated
Sounds like: deer (a wild animal with hooves; the males often have antlers)
How to Spell Dear
Syllables: dear
Tricky part: Dear uses ea. Deer, with ee, is the animal, and it sounds exactly the same.
Watch out for: dere, deare, dier
Memory tip: Your dear friend is always near: dear and near share the same ea.
Idioms and Phrases
- hold something dear: to value something very much Example: "Nani holds her old photo album dear."
- for dear life: as hard as you can, as if your life depended on it Example: "On the bumpy jeep ride, I held on to the seat for dear life."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Tara is my dear friend from my old school.
Example 2: The letter began, Dear Sir.
Example 3: My grandfather's watch is very dear to him.
Fun Fact
The sense costly is very old. Shopkeepers in India may still say onions are dear when prices go up.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: dear
a) distant
b) hated
c) cheap
d) beloved
Show answer
d) beloved. Someone dear to you is loved, so beloved fits; hated and cheap are opposites of two senses of dear.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Kavya posted a birthday card to her deer cousin who lives in Chennai.
a) posted
b) cousin
c) deer
d) birthday
Show answer
c) deer. A loved cousin is a dear one; deer with ee is the forest animal.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) freind
b) beleif
c) dear
d) feild
Show answer
c) dear. Dear is right; belief, friend and field have their vowels in the wrong order here.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If something is dear to you, you ____.
a) are afraid of it
b) care about it a lot
c) want to throw it away
d) have never seen it
Show answer
b) care about it a lot
2. In the sentence The fruit is very dear this season, dear means ____.
a) sweet
b) costly
c) fresh
d) rotten
Show answer
b) costly
