English Reference
Word adverb

dearly

adv.
US /ˈdɪɹɫi/ UK /dˈiəli/ dear·ly
Definition
  1. 01 B2 Upper Intermediate

    very much; with a lot of love or affection.

    with great affection or fondness; often used to intensify verbs of liking or loving.

    Simple

    “She loved her grandmother dearly and visited her every single weekend.”

    In context

    “He missed his homeland dearly, often spending hours looking at old photographs of the mountains where he grew up.”

    Usage

    Usually placed before the verb it modifies, such as 'dearly love' or 'dearly miss'.

    Synonyms
    deeplygreatlyfondly
Etymology

From Middle English derely, deorliche, from Old English dēorlīċe (“worthily, richly”), equivalent to dear + -ly.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Old English dēorlīċe
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated