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• darling
  darling

  noun

  a person very dear to another; one dearly loved.
• Darling
  Darling

  noun

  Jay Norwood Ding, 1876–1962, U.S. political cartoonist.

darling

¹ American  

[dahr-ling] / ˈdɑr lɪŋ /

noun

• darlings
  plural

1. a person very dear to another; one dearly loved.

2. (sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar term of address.

3. a person or thing in great favor; a favorite.

   She was the darling of caf é society.

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adjective

1. very dear; dearly loved.

   my darling child.

2. favorite; cherished.

3. Informal. charming; cute; lovable.

   What a darling baby!

Darling ² American  

[dahr-ling] / ˈdɑr lɪŋ /

noun

1. Jay Norwood Ding, 1876–1962, U.S. political cartoonist.

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darling ¹ British  

/ ˈdɑːlɪŋ /

noun

1. a person very much loved: often used as a term of address

2. a favourite

   the teacher's darling

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adjective

1. beloved

2. much admired; pleasing

   a darling hat

Darling ² British  

/ ˈdɑːlɪŋ /

noun

1. Grace. 1815–42, English national heroine, famous for her rescue (1838) of some shipwrecked sailors with her father, a lighthouse keeper

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• darlingness
  noun
• darlingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• darlings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of darling

before 900; Middle English derling, Old English dēorling. See dear ¹, -ling ¹

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Explanation

Use the word darling for someone you love or care for deeply. Your sweet old grandmother probably calls you darling. You can describe someone as being your darling, or address them that way: "I missed you so much while I was working on that fishing boat, darling!" Another way to use the word is for a generally lovable person: "Everyone adores Timmy, he's such a darling." The Old English root is deorling, a diminutive of deor, "dear."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

darling Darling darlings

Justice Scalia interrupted him and said that while the Privileges or Immunities argument was “the darling of the professoriate,” it was contrary to a century of case law.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

But there was still time for resident villain Horwood to direct a jibe at broadcaster Will Best's hip action: "Call in the paramedics darling, dislocation - my goodness."

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Walmart by 1981 was already a Wall Street darling valued at over $1 billion, but its promise was selling everything to everyone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

It continues the show’s darling status on the awards circuit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

As she did, she read the writing on the top of the paper: To my darling Masha.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

In a hotel in Sydney's Darling Harbour, Alonso detailed the long path to Chelsea through his father, Periko Alonso, a fellow Spain international and former Real Sociedad and Barcelona player.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Originally from Croydon, Burley revealed he found The Darling Buds of May easier to write than to cast, with the role of Mariette proving especially hard as "lots of young actresses just didn't excite us".

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

“There is no question many people will have such machines in their homes eventually,” Darling told me, “and develop real emotional connections to them.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Born Nedra Talley on Jan. 27, 1946, in New York City, Ross started singing as a child and joined cousins Veronica and Estelle Bennett to form the family act the Darling Sisters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026

"She's fine, thanks. I haven't seen her too recently, but the last I--" "Darling, if Holden needs anything, everything's in the linen closet. The top shelf. I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted," Mrs. Antolini said.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

In October 2000, after a summer rally spurred by Federal Reserve easing, Wall Street’s darlings faltered as investors faced up to the fact that the dot-com bubble was deflating.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

The critics tangle with Taylor Swift: The singer’s recent singles, including “Patient Zero,” have not, to put it mildly, been critical darlings, but they are holding steady on the charts.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026

They helped crown a new class of AI darlings and piled into the SpaceX initial public offering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

The list even includes some erstwhile AI darlings, like Broadcom and Vistra.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

"Fifi?" she called in a shocked voice at the sight of one of the family darlings.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

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