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Definition of "darling" []

  • A dearly beloved person. (noun)
  • One that is greatly liked or preferred; a favorite: "the pride and vanity of the rich, the darlings of fate” ( Mario Puzo). (noun)
  • Dearly beloved. (adjective)
  • Regarded with special favor; favorite: "Metaphysics and poetry . . . are my darling studies” ( Samuel Taylor Coleridge). (adjective)
  • Informal Charming or amusing: a darling hat. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "darling" in a sentence
  • ""Oh, darling, _darling_ Miss Humf'ay, we _will_ be good if you'll stay!""
  • "England, six months ago, did not I hear him croon, if not certainly sing, 'Charlie is my darling' ( 'my _darling_' with an adoring emphasis), and then he stood back, as it were, from the song, to look at it better, and said 'How must that notion of ideal wondrous perfection have impressed itself in this old Jacobite's "young"
  • "“Hello,” Ellen said warmly, biting off the word darling before it could escape her lips."