Endearing

How to spell endearing

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce endearing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does endearing mean?

1. adjectiveInspiring affection or fondness; charming in a way that makes someone well liked.

Endearing in a sentence

• Her habit of humming while she worked was strangely endearing.

• The puppy had an endearing way of tilting its head at every sound.

Where does endearing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the verb 'endear', which was assembled in English during the late 1500s from the prefix 'en-', meaning 'to make or cause to be', and the adjective 'dear', meaning beloved or precious. The 'dear' element traces back to the Old English 'deore', a native Germanic word that meant both 'much loved' and 'costly', a double sense that survives today when we say a thing is 'dear' to us or that prices are 'dear'. The earliest use of 'endear' actually meant 'to raise the price of' or 'to make more valuable', and only later softened into the affectionate meaning of making someone beloved. The present participle 'endearing' then settled into use as an adjective describing whatever wins our affection. The spelling trap is the buried 'dear' at the heart of the word: keep that familiar little word visible and the 'ear' in the middle stops being a guess.

How the word is built

• en- (to make)
• dear (beloved, precious)
• -ing (present-participle adjective suffix)