Dear vs Very - What's the difference?
dear | very |
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= An ironic way to start (often after my ) addressing an inferior.
:
(lb) Noble.
A very kind, loving person.
A beloved person
(obsolete) dearly; at a high price
* Shakespeare
True, real, actual.
:
*Bible, (w) xxvii. 21
*:whether thou be my very son Esau or not
*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
*:The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness.
*(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)
*:I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice.
*
*:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
*{{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.}}
The same; identical.
:
*
*:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
With limiting effect: mere.
*, I.40:
*:We have many examples in our daies, yea in very children, of such as for feare of some slight incommoditie have yeelded unto death.
To a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
:
*
*:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
*, chapter=13
, title= True, truly.
:
As adjectives the difference between dear and very
is that dear is loved; lovable or dear can be severe(ly affected), sore while very is true, real, actual.As adverbs the difference between dear and very
is that dear is (obsolete) dearly; at a high price while very is to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.As a noun dear
is a very kind, loving person.As a verb dear
is (obsolete) to endear.dear
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) dere, from (etyl) .Adjective
(er)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.
Derived terms
* dearly * dear me * dearnessNoun
(en noun)- My cousin is such a dear , always drawing me pictures.
Synonyms
* (kind loving person) darlingDerived terms
* oh dear * the dear knowsAdverb
(en adverb)- If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear .
Etymology 2
(etyl) dere, from (etyl) . Cognate with the aboveStatistics
*Anagrams
* English affectionate terms ----very
English
(wikipedia very)Adjective
(en-adj)citation
Synonyms
*Adverb
(-)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}