nearest and dearest
The people with whom one has the closest relationships; one's closest and move beloved family members and friends. People would much rather go home and spend time with their nearest and dearest, not hang around their co-workers at some dull office party.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
nearest and dearest
One's closest and fondest friends, companions, or relatives, as in It's a small gathering-we're inviting only a dozen or so of our nearest and dearest. This rhyming expression has been used ironically since the late 1500s, as well as by Shakespeare in 1 Henry IV (3:2): "Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, which art my nearest and dearest enemy?"
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
your nearest and dearest
Your nearest and dearest are your close friends and family. The English do not like to show their feelings, even to their nearest and dearest.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
your nearest and dearest
your close friends and relatives.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
your ˌnearest and ˈdearest
(informal, often humorous) your close family and friends: It must be difficult for him here, living so far away from his nearest and dearest.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
nearest and dearest
One’s closest and fondest companions, friends, and/ or relatives. This expression, which no doubt owes its longevity to its rhyme, is often used ironically, and has been ever since the sixteenth century. Shakespeare so used it in Henry IV, Part 1 (3.2), when King Henry tells his son, Prince Hal, “Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, which art my near’st and dearest enemy? Thou that art like enough . . . to fight against me under Percy’s pay.” So did Thomas Middleton in his comedy, Anything for a Quiet Life (5.1), produced in 1615. A contemporary context might have it, “We’re having an intimate gathering—for only a hundred of our nearest and dearest.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer