"dear me" meaning in English

See dear me in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

IPA: /ˌdɪəˈmiː/ [Received-Pronunciation] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sumxr-dear me.wav
  1. An expression of surprise, dismay, or indulgent disapproval. Synonyms (expression of disapproval): tut tut Synonyms (expression of dismay): dammit Synonyms (expression of surprise): wow
    Sense id: en-dear_me-en-intj-gMAw9tZ- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Alternative forms

{
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              8
            ],
            [
              22,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear:",
          "text": "\"Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me!\" said this singular epistle. There was neither superscription nor signature. I laughed at the quaint message; but Holmes showed unwonted seriousness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              8
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob's Room:",
          "text": "\"Dear me,\" said Mrs. Flanders, when she read in the Scarborough and Harrogate Courier that the Rev. Andrew Floyd, etc., etc., had been made Principal of Maresfield House, \"that must be our Mr. Floyd.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An expression of surprise, dismay, or indulgent disapproval."
      ],
      "id": "en-dear_me-en-intj-gMAw9tZ-",
      "links": [
        [
          "surprise",
          "surprise"
        ],
        [
          "dismay",
          "dismay"
        ],
        [
          "indulgent",
          "indulgent"
        ],
        [
          "disapproval",
          "disapproval"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "sense": "expression of surprise",
          "word": "wow"
        },
        {
          "sense": "expression of dismay",
          "word": "dammit"
        },
        {
          "sense": "expression of disapproval",
          "word": "tut tut"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdɪəˈmiː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sumxr-dear me.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dear me"
}
{
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "intj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English interjections",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              8
            ],
            [
              22,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1915, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear:",
          "text": "\"Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me!\" said this singular epistle. There was neither superscription nor signature. I laughed at the quaint message; but Holmes showed unwonted seriousness.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              1,
              8
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob's Room:",
          "text": "\"Dear me,\" said Mrs. Flanders, when she read in the Scarborough and Harrogate Courier that the Rev. Andrew Floyd, etc., etc., had been made Principal of Maresfield House, \"that must be our Mr. Floyd.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An expression of surprise, dismay, or indulgent disapproval."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "surprise",
          "surprise"
        ],
        [
          "dismay",
          "dismay"
        ],
        [
          "indulgent",
          "indulgent"
        ],
        [
          "disapproval",
          "disapproval"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌdɪəˈmiː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Sumxr-dear me.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d1/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Sumxr-dear_me.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "expression of surprise",
      "word": "wow"
    },
    {
      "sense": "expression of dismay",
      "word": "dammit"
    },
    {
      "sense": "expression of disapproval",
      "word": "tut tut"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dear me"
}

Download raw JSONL data for dear me meaning in English (1.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-03-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-03-03 using wiktextract (05c257f and 9d9a410). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.