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