Library / English Dictionary

DEARLY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

At a great cost

Example:

this cost him dear

Synonyms:

dear; dearly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

dear (having a high price)

Sense 2

Meaning:

With affection

Example:

he treats her affectionately

Synonyms:

affectionately; dear; dearly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

dear (dearly loved)

Sense 3

Meaning:

In a sincere and heartfelt manner

Example:

I would dearly love to know

Synonyms:

dearly; in a heartfelt way

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

dear (sincerely earnest)

Credits

 Context examples: 

So it ended in my saying “yes,” and back I went with all my news to my mother, who dearly loved a little bit of gossip.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

James accepted this tribute of gratitude, and qualified his conscience for accepting it too, by saying with perfect sincerity, “Indeed, Catherine, I love you dearly.”

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Her he dearly loved, and he was confident that she would shine anywhere.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Here and there a little group of shattered Indians marked where one of the anthropoids had turned to bay, and sold his life dearly.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I would as soon see you, Mr. Rochester, tricked out in stage-trappings, as myself clad in a court-lady's robe; and I don't call you handsome, sir, though I love you most dearly: far too dearly to flatter you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Anne had gone unhappy to school, grieving for the loss of a mother whom she had dearly loved, feeling her separation from home, and suffering as a girl of fourteen, of strong sensibility and not high spirits, must suffer at such a time; and Miss Hamilton, three years older than herself, but still from the want of near relations and a settled home, remaining another year at school, had been useful and good to her in a way which had considerably lessened her misery, and could never be remembered with indifference.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Sire, this is a knight whom it is indeed great honor to meet, and I would that your grace would grant me leave to send my squire for my harness, for I would dearly love to run a course with him.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I know Marianne's heart: I know that she dearly loves me, and that I shall not be the last to whom the affair is made known, when circumstances make the revealment of it eligible.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so dearly.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)