Meaning of nearest and dearest | Babel Free

Definitions

One's closest and most intimate family members, friends, etc.

idiomatic, plural, plural-only

Equivalents

Examples

“[W]hile all mourned and honoured the dead, thou hast lived to merit our hate and execration—lived to unite thyself with the vile tyrant who murdered thy nearest and dearest— […]”

“Several days passed by, and to all appearance we had quite forgotten our poor old servitor, – so heartless in remembrance is weak humanity to its nearest and dearest, – when, in course of time, it got to be New Year's eve, and we were sitting in our study, awaiting the cook's preparations for dinner, when suddenly we heard a noise as of much tramping.”

“Christmas is the time to nurture friendships and spend as much time as possible with your nearest and dearest.”

“I think the immigrant, as a rule, clings more to the homeland and to culture and music than the person who's surrounded by it all the time. That would often be the last sight of their homeland, it would be the last sight of their nearest and dearest, and yet, over and above that, they still felt the need to go and try and get a better life, whether it was voluntary and whether they were thrown off their lands or whatever.”

CEFR level