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Glite Dictionary
to pay dearly

to pay dearly

16 5.8
To suffer serious harm or loss because of an action
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
: pagar caro
  • You will pay dearly for your actions if you continue to ignore the warnings.

One day you do realize that they actually do expect you to read their minds and that you will pay dearly if you cannot do so.

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Examples

Synonyms

to bear the brunt
vsto pay dearly
  • Informal
16 6.7

Take the worst part of something bad

focuses on personal serious loss as a result of a decision or action
to pay the piper
vsto pay dearly
  • Informal
10 7.7

Accept the bad result of something you did

is about suffering serious loss or harm because of a decision
to pay the freight
vsto pay dearly
  • Informal
1 8.1

To accept the cost or bad result of something

involves suffering significant harm or loss rather than only covering expenses
to pay one's pound of flesh
vsto pay dearly
  • Literature
9.9

Suffer a heavy cost to meet an unfair demand

means undergoing serious consequences caused by one's own decision or action

Antonyms

to benefit
654 2.3

To help someone or be helped by something

gain
  • Specialized
531 2.3

An advantage that gives you more money or success

How Severely

to pay dearly
  • Informal
16 5.8
to pay the piper
  • Informal
10 7.7
to face the music
  • Informal
18 4.5
to suffer
∞ 2.0

Surface Forms

pay dearly infinitive
paid dearly past
paid dearly past participle
paying dearly present participle
pays dearly third person singular

Morphology

pay + dearly

The meaning 'to suffer serious consequences' is directly inferable from combining 'pay' (to suffer or give in response to something, i.e. pay a price) with 'dearly' (to a great or costly extent). This figurative 'pay a price' construction is a transparent, widely attested metaphor cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will very likely understand the MWE.

Etymology

Pay dearly comes from a simple money picture: to pay a lot because dearly originally meant 'very expensive'. So today pay dearly means 'to suffer a serious loss or bad result' after a choice or action.