nearest and dearest

1. One's closest and fondest friends, companions, or relatives, as in It's a small gathering—we're inviting only a dozen or so of our nearest and dearest. This rhyming expression has been used ironically since the late 1500s, as well as by Shakespeare in 1 Henry IV (3:2): “Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, which art my nearest and dearest enemy?”

Example Sentences

But some people said borrowing from their nearest and dearest had affected those relationships.

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One section of the exhibition consists of portrait busts of emperors such as Trajan and Hadrian grouped with their nearest and dearest—wives and designated followers.

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You could miss an entire sequence and look up to see Donnie Wahlberg emoting over a hospital bed, and immediately know that the nearest and dearest of Danny Reagan—ex-NYPD detective and principal on “Blue Bloods”—was in the bed.

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Only his nearest and dearest had other ideas, throwing the ex-Newcastle United winger a surprise 50th birthday party earlier this year.

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Before Sunday's final against Spain, we hear Swiss stories from some of England's nearest and dearest, who send their good luck messages before one last push in Basel.

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