# dear vs del

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### dear
*adjective · IPA /dɪə/ · frequency rank #1,753*
High in price; expensive.

### del
*noun · IPA /dɛl/ · frequency rank #4,150*
The symbol ∇ used to denote the gradient operator.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dear-vs-del