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Dear vs Drear - What's the difference?

dear | drear |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between dear and drear

is that dear is (obsolete) dearly; at a high price while drear is (obsolete) gloom; sadness.

As adjectives the difference between dear and drear

is that dear is loved; lovable or dear can be severe(ly affected), sore while drear is (poetic) dreary.

As nouns the difference between dear and drear

is that dear is a very kind, loving person while drear is (obsolete) gloom; sadness.

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 ----

    drear

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (poetic) Dreary.
  • * 1794, , lines 1-2
    • Earth raised up her head
    From the darkness dread and drear ,
  • * 1874 ,
    • I spoke, perplexed by something in the signs
    Of desolation I had seen and heard
    In this drear pilgrimage to ruined shrines:
  • * 1922 , , XXVIII, lines 1-2
    • Now dreary dawns the eastern light,
    And fall of eve is drear ,

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) Gloom; sadness.
  • *1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.2:
  • *:She thankt him deare / Both for that newes he did to her impart, / And for the courteous care which he did beare / Both to her love and to her selfe in that sad dreare .

    • Anagrams

    * *