Meanings
plural dearnesses
- uncountableusuallyThe quality of having great value or price.
Customers in Padgett Street did not generally, one might infer, express approval on the score of dearness.
1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London1 more example
But brothers pass not into noble friendships upon the stock of that relation: they have fair dispositions and advantages, and are more easy and ready to ferment into the greatest dearnesses, if all things else be answerable.
1657, Jeremy Taylor, Discourse of the Nature, Offices and Measures of Friendship
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe quality possessed by something with a great price or value
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic غَلَاة
- غَلَاة (ḡalāh)quality of having great value
French cherté
- chertéquality of having great value
German Teuerheit
- Teuerheitquality of having great value
Latin cāritas
- cāritasquality of having great value
Russian дорогови́зна
- дорогови́зна (dorogovízna)quality of having great value
Cite this entry
dearness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dearness
“dearness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dearness. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dearness,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dearness.
Source: dearness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.