dear me

Idioms and Phrases

Also, oh dear . A polite exclamation expressing surprise, distress, sympathy, etc. For example, Dear me, I forgot to mail it , or Oh dear, what a bad time you've been having . These usages may originally have invoked God, as in dear God or oh God , which also continue to be so used. [Late 1600s]

Example Sentences

But he became contemptuous of Boris Johnson, at one point saying "dear me, he really, really is awful" while being filmed after connecting remotely to a Covid meeting led by the then prime minister in 2020.

From BBC

"Dear me, he really, really is awful," he said.

From BBC

At first, she said, she thought: “‘Oh, no, dear me, I am a literary author.

From New York Times

With the cameras rolling, an S4C documentary recorded him saying: "Dear me, he really, really is awful."

From BBC

Mrs. Boardman said, “Dear me! I hope the keg was empty!”

From Literature