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Dear vs Desert - What's the difference?

dear | desert |

As adjectives the difference between dear and desert

is that dear is loved; lovable or dear can be severe(ly affected), sore while desert is deserted.

As nouns the difference between dear and desert

is that dear is a very kind, loving person while desert is desert.

As a verb dear

is (obsolete) to endear.

As an adverb dear

is (obsolete) dearly; at a high price.

dear

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) dere, from (etyl) .

Adjective

(er)
  • Loved; lovable.
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
  • Loving, affectionate, heartfelt
  • :
  • Precious to or greatly valued by someone.
  • :
  • High in price; expensive.
  • :
  • A formal way to start (possibly after my ) addressing somebody at the beginning of a letter, memo etc.
  • :
  • A formal way to start (often after my ) addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly.
  • :
  • *, chapter=7
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing.
  • An ironic way to start (often after my ) addressing an inferior.
  • :
  • (lb) Noble.
    • Derived terms
    * dearly * dear me * dearness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A very kind, loving person.
    • My cousin is such a dear , always drawing me pictures.
  • A beloved person
    • Synonyms
    * (kind loving person) darling
    Derived terms
    * oh dear * the dear knows

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To endear.
    • (Shelton)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) dearly; at a high price
  • * Shakespeare
    • If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear .

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) dere, from (etyl) . Cognate with the above

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Severe(ly affected), sore

    • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English affectionate terms ----

    desert

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) from the (etyl) deserte, from

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (senseid)(usually in plural) That which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward
  • * 1600 , (John Dowland), (Flow My Tears)
    • From the highest spire of contentment / my fortune is thrown; / and fear and grief and pain for my deserts / are my hopes, since hope is gone.
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) Chapter 21
    • "Nonsense, Mina. It is a shame to me to hear such a word. I would not hear it of you. And I shall not hear it from you. May God judge me by my deserts , and punish me with more bitter suffering than even this hour, if by any act or will of mine anything ever come between us!"
  • * A. Hamilton
    • His reputation falls far below his desert .
    Derived terms
    * just deserts

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A barren area of land or desolate terrain, especially one with little water or vegetation; a wasteland.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
    • Not thus the land appear'd in ages past, / A dreary desert and a gloomy waste.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1892, author=(James Yoxall)
    • , chapter=5, title= The Lonely Pyramid , passage=The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.}}
  • (label) Any barren place or situation.
  • * 1858 , William Howitt, Land, Labour, and Gold; Or, Two Years in Victoria (page 54)
    • He declared that the country was an intellectual desert ; that he was famishing for spiritual aliment, and for discourse on matters beyond mere nuggets, prospectings, and the price of gold.
  • * 2006 , Philip N. Cooke, Creative Industries in Wales: Potential and Pitfalls (page 34)
    • So the question that is commonly asked is, why put a media incubator in a media desert and have it managed by a civil servant?

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Abandoned, deserted, or uninhabited; usually of a place.
    • They were marooned on a desert island in the Pacific.
  • * Bible, Luke ix. 10
    • He went aside privately into a desert place.
  • * Gray
    • Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
    Derived terms
    * desert boot * desert island * desert lynx * desert pavement * desert pea * desert rat * desert soil * desert varnish * desertification * food desert * preach in the desert

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To leave (anything that depends on one's presence to survive, exist, or succeed), especially when contrary to a promise or obligation; to abandon; to forsake.
    • You can't just drive off and desert me here, in the middle of nowhere.
  • To leave one's duty or post, especially to leave a military or naval unit without permission.
    • Anyone found deserting will be shot.
    Derived terms
    * deserter * desertion * desert or leave a sinking ship

    Anagrams

    * * English heteronyms ----