Dear John Definition & Meaning

American

Etymology

Examples

Dear John American

noun

Informal.

1. a letter from a woman informing her boyfriend or fiancé that she is ending their relationship or informing her husband that she wants a divorce.

   Nothing is worse for a soldier's morale than getting a Dear John.

2. any letter terminating a relationship.

Etymology

Origin of Dear John

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Maybe only on second reading do we realize that we’ve been reading a kind of Dear John letter to America.

From Los Angeles Times

On this record, “Red Eye Flight” could be a goodbye to a lover, or it could be a Dear John letter to addiction.

From Salon

This one differs from something like, “The Notebook,” or “Message in a Bottle,” or “Dear John,” in that there's actually two stories going on.

From Salon

Swift doesn’t portray herself precisely as a victim as she did in old tunes such as “Dear John” or “All Too Well,” to name two of her masterpieces about unscrupulous men; nor is there anything dewy-eyed about “The Alchemy,” which likens falling for a new guy to a chemical imbalance.

From Los Angeles Times

“I accept it for all editors who toil in the darkness of an editing room ... to create a unique, believable world born to the imagination. And most of all, I want to thank John, my dear John.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.