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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

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

While the stock was an investor darling during the pandemic era, the company has found itself in a more competitive payment-technology market since then.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

Ainsley has a reputation for being a festival darling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

"Oh, darling, I've been so miserable," Brett said.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

There was table tennis, darts and computer games available at the team's luxury hotel, which overlooked Darling Harbour.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

“This year, more Rioters are working together from our L.A. office than at any point since we returned in 2022,” said the company’s president, Darling, using the company’s nickname for Riot employees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 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

"It feels good that we have a team that actually could win something for us," said Darling.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

Darling, what a question, but here goes: my nanny was a dreadful snob.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

And tech darlings are no longer commanding the multiples that they once did.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Many of the market’s AI darlings, from Sandisk to Microsoft, then rallied.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Rotating away from erstwhile AI darlings has been in vogue of late.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

We don’t have any pictures, but we have thoroughly described our darlings to each other.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez

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