Qualities

Synonyms for dear

Synonyms for dear: good and costly. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.

2 synonyms · Tier 1, Foothills · 2 senses · adjective · 1 reason line

The 2 synonyms for dear

goodadjective, in the sense "with or in a close or intimate relationship"
costlyadjective, in the sense "having a high price"

All two are filed under dear's own senses, one synonym per sense, each read by a human before it shipped.

Sense 1 of 2adjectiveTier 1, Foothills

with or in a close or intimate relationship

My sisters and brothers are near and dear.

The context the game gives you. The gloss above is for readers here, not for players there.

The true synonym

good

Same sentence, swapped: My sisters and brothers are near and good.

Close but different

The game offers these three alongside the answer. They are close enough to tempt and wrong enough to be wrong, which is the whole design.

honey
devout
rich

Sense 2 of 2adjectiveTier 3, RidgelineQualities

having a high price

Much too dear for my pocketbook.

The sentence the game shows, and the only thing that settles which meaning is meant.

The true synonym

costly

Same sentence, swapped: Much too costly for my pocketbook.

Close but different

The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot dear is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.

darling
near
high

Where dear turns up in the game

dear is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across two difficulty tiers. It is never used as a wrong tile elsewhere in the bank, so every board it appears on is a board it can win.

Play dear

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so dear reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. No sentence here is generated at deploy time.

Read nextThe whole library →

The ring widens as it goes, from qualities at Foothills outward to the whole bank.

questionnoundoubtuncertainty about the truth or factuality or existence of somethingFoothillsHas a reason line quickadjectivewarmeasily aroused or excitedFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line quietadjectivestillfree from disturbance by heavy wavesFoothills2 sensesHas a reason line rangenoun, verbreachan area in which something acts or operates or has power or control:Foothills2 sensesHas a reason line energynounpushenterprising or ambitious driveFoothills2 senses equaladjectiveadequatehaving the requisite qualities or resources to meet a taskRidgelineHas a reason line equivalentadjectivetantamountbeing essentially equal to somethingHigh Camp shopnounstorea mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or servicesFoothillsHas a reason line

The wrong tile gets explained too

Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. dear carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.

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