dearly

Etymology

From Middle English derely, deorliche, from Old English dēorlīċe (“worthily, richly”), equivalent to dear + -ly.

adv

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.
   He paid dearly for his mistake.
   But I take solace in the fact that the public has seen the enormous mountain of evidence proving what Fox did, and Fox paid dearly for it. 2023-04-21, John Poulos, “Dominion’s C.E.O.: Why We Settled the Lawsuit Against Fox News”, in The New York Times, →ISSN