pay dearly

idiom

: to suffer a lot as a result of something one has done
She paid dearly for her mistakes.

Examples of pay dearly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web On Friday afternoon, a jury of nine New Yorkers sided with her, saying that the former President had defamed her, and ordering him to pay dearly: $83.3 million in damages. Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2024 Fox News should pay dearly for Carlson’s destructive stint at the network. Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 6 July 2023 Plus, some kids respond badly to disrupted routines and make their already tired parents pay dearly for it. Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 14 May 2023 With Antetokounmpo sidelined with a back injury, Lopez kicked off the first quarter shooting 7 of 8 from the field for 14 points, making a living in the dunker and making Miami pay dearly for not really having anyone to stop him. Lori Nickel, Journal Sentinel, 20 Apr. 2023 Outside the public school system, families often pay dearly for early education. Stephanie Ebbert, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2022 Of course, in any neighborhood in America where residents pay dearly for peace and quiet, opposition to anything fast, loud or ugly is a tradition. Ashley Fetters Maloy, Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2022 The recent auction for scant 250 MHz in the C-band raising $90 billion demonstrates that companies are willing to pay dearly for 5G transmission rights and relocation of incumbent users. Roslyn Layton, Forbes, 15 July 2022 Ramping up production is expensive, and investors are demanding profitability, so supply has lagged while drivers pay dearly. New York Times, 3 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pay dearly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near pay dearly

Cite this Entry

“Pay dearly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pay%20dearly. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

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