dearest
NounWordNet 3.0
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Dear \Dear\ (d[=e]r), a. [Compar. Dearer (d[=e]r"[~e]r); superl. Dearest (d[=e]r"[e^]st).] [OE. dere, deore, AS. de['o]re; akin to OS. diuri, D. duur, OHG. tiuri, G. theuer, teuer, Icel. d[=y]rr, Dan. & Sw. dyr. Cf. Darling, Dearth.]
1.Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive. [1913 Webster]
The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
2.Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year. [1913 Webster]
3.Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. "Hear me, dear lady." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
Neither count I my life dear unto myself.— Acts xx. 24.[1913 Webster]
And the last joy was dearer than the rest.— Pope.[1913 Webster]
Dear as remember'd kisses after death.— Tennyson.[1913 Webster]
4.Hence, close to the heart; heartfelt; present in mind; engaging the attention. (a) Of agreeable things and interests. [1913 Webster]
[I'll] leave you to attend him: some dear cause Will in concealment wrap me up awhile.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle and glitter of Whitehall.— Macaulay. (b) Of disagreeable things and antipathies.[1913 Webster]
In our dear peril.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day.— Shak.[1913 Webster]