dearly
/ˈdɪɹli/adverb
dearly is spelled D-E-A-R-L-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, dearly means “In a dear or precious manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dearly?
| Letters | 6: D-E-A-R-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dearly?
Dearly appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dearly?
- US /ˈdɪɹli/
- UK /ˈdɪəli/
Dearly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-dearly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dearly?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dearly from its last stressed vowel (/ɪɹli/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dearly
- more dearly comparative
- dearlier comparative, rare
- most dearly superlative
- dearliest rare, superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dearly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a dear or precious manner.
the funeral of our dearly beloved sister
- 2
In a dear or expensive manner.
a dearly priced item
- 3
At great expense; dear.
He paid dearly for his mistake.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dearly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a dear manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | caramente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dearly come from?
From Middle English derely, deorliche, from Old English dēorlīċe (“worthily, richly”), equivalent to dear + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).