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Synonyms

dearly

British  
/ ˈdɪəlɪ /

adverb

  1. very much

    I would dearly like you to go

  2. affectionately

  3. at a great cost

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I grew up in and love so dearly.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

"I believe that's going to cost them dearly."

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Overspending cost them dearly - making Rio Ferdinand the world's most expensive defender, splashing out on Robbie Keane, Mark Viduka, Robbie Fowler and others - and saw the club eventually spiral into League One.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026

CoStar Group pushed into the data business, creating dominance over information on building size, age, tenants and sale prices—data that the established firms once controlled and now pay CoStar dearly to access.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

He had a nice little house of his own, a wife whom he loved dearly, and two children, named Janie and Bill.

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.