endear

American  

[en-deer] / ɛnˈdɪər /

verb (used with object)

1. to make dear, esteemed, or beloved.

   He endeared himself to his friends with his gentle ways.

2. Obsolete. to make costly.

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endear British  

/ ɪnˈdɪə /

verb

1. (tr) to cause to be beloved or esteemed

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Other Word Forms

• unendeared
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of endear

First recorded in 1570–80; en- ¹ + dear ¹

Explanation

Things that endear you to others — like your sense of humor or your skill at baking chocolate chip cookies — cause them to be fond of you. The verb endear is almost always followed by the word "to," as in the sentence "The teacher's ready smile and gentle voice endear him to the class of kindergartners." When something endears you to another person, he or she adores you. In the 1500s, endear meant "increase the value of," though it quickly came to mean "make dear," or perhaps to increase the emotional value, especially of another person.

Example Sentences

The hills where the hunter Oft soundeth his horn, Where sweetest the skylark Awakens the morn; The gray cliff, the blue lake, The stream's dashing glee, Endear the red hills Of the heather to me.

From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume VI The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century by Rogers, Charles

Endear, en-dēr′, v.t. to make dear or more dear.—adjs.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Defeat whets victory, they say; The reefs in old Gethsemane     Endear the shore beyond.

From Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete by Dickinson, Emily

Related Words

• captivate
• cherish