deary
Americannoun
noun
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informal a term of affection: now often sarcastic or facetious
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an exclamation of surprise or dismay
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of deary
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It comes when Callas, resplendent even in a bathrobe, glides into the kitchen to sing at Bruna while the poor deary cooks her an omelet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
But I’m content, for it’s comin’ to me, my deary, and comin’ quick.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Laurie thanked her with a look that made her think in a sudden panic, “Oh, deary me! I know he’ll say something, and then what shall I do?”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
In the quiet I see my faults, and try to mend them; but, deary me, I don't get on at all.
From Louisa May Alcott : Her Life, Letters, and Journals by Alcott, Louisa May
Hush deary," she whispered looking round in a fearful manner, "don't speak evil of speerits.
From The Mandarin's Fan by Hume, Fergus
Step on a crack, my dearies, step on a crack and teach your granny to suck eggs from her one basket.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 2, 2019
We had them all: cat’s-eyes, aggies, dearies, milkies, steelies, glassies, onionskins.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Now, dearies, a little tea and toast, just to please Felicia Rivers, and because you remind her of her own sweet little lamb cousins who are out in the rain somewhere to-night.”
From The Motor Maids by Rose, Shamrock and Thistle by Stokes, Katherine
He clasped them warmly, and the old crone, seeing that the whole affair was over, slunk off, whining something about meaning no harm to the "dearies"!
From The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View Or, The Box That Was Found in the Sand by Hope, Laura Lee
Really, dearies, they catapulted back and forth like rockets!
From Polly in New York by Roy, Lillian Elizabeth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
