What does dearbought mean?
Dearbought is an adjective describing something that has been acquired at a heavy price, whether measured in money, effort, suffering, or sacrifice. A 'dearbought victory' is one won only after grievous losses; a 'dearbought lesson' is wisdom gained through painful experience. The word combines 'dear' in its older sense of 'costly' or 'high-priced' with 'bought', and it has long carried a solemn, literary tone. Shakespeare employed the hyphenated form 'dear-bought' in plays such as Henry IV and Richard III, typically to underscore the human cost behind political or military gains. Though never common in everyday speech, it survives in historical, political, and reflective writing where an author wishes to emphasize that freedom, peace, or knowledge came at genuine expense. Its connotation is grave rather than merely commercial: unlike 'expensive', which concerns price alone, dearbought evokes sacrifice and hard-won achievement, making it a precise and evocative choice for writers weighing what was given up to obtain something valuable.
adjectiveBought or obtained at a great price or cost; acquired only through considerable expense, effort, or suffering.
- Bought at a very high monetary price; expensive.
- Obtained at great personal cost, such as suffering, sacrifice, or loss — often figurative rather than financial.
"The treaty's dearbought concessions were celebrated as a triumph of diplomacy."
"The colonists' freedom was dearbought, purchased with years of hardship and loss."
"He called the lesson dearbought, for it had taken the failure of his first business to learn it."
Shakespeare used it in Henry IV and Richard III — when he wanted to say something was paid for in blood, he reached for 'dear-bought'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dearbought
Dearbought is formed from the Middle English adjective 'dere' (from Old English 'dēore'), which originally meant both 'precious' and 'expensive', combined with 'bought', the past participle of 'buy' (Old English 'bycgan'). The compound arose in Middle English and was well established by the early modern period, appearing in Shakespeare as 'dear-bought'. The underlying root is the Germanic *deuraz, meaning precious or costly, which also yields modern English words such as 'dear', 'dearly', and 'endear'. Cognates appear across Germanic languages, including Dutch 'duur' (expensive).
Related word forms
How dearbought is actually used
Often hyphenated as 'dear-bought', especially in older literary texts; the unhyphenated form is now standard. The word carries a solemn, literary connotation and appears most often in historical, political, or reflective writing about sacrifices made. It is formal and somewhat old-fashioned in register.
Easily confused with dearbought
'Dearth' means a scarcity or shortage of something, while 'dearbought' describes something obtained at high cost.