dear vs sweet

dear

adj
  • Lovely; kind. 

  • A formal way to start (possibly after my) addressing somebody at the beginning of a letter, memo etc. 

  • Loving, affectionate, heartfelt 

  • Loved; lovable. 

  • Precious to or greatly valued by someone. 

  • An ironic way to start (often after my) addressing an inferior. 

  • A formal way to start (often after my) addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly. 

  • High in price; expensive. 

  • Severe, or severely affected; sore. 

adv
  • Dearly; at a high price. 

noun
  • An affectionate, familiar term of address, such as used between husband and wife. 

  • A beloved person. 

  • A very kind, loving person. 

  • An elderly person, especially a woman. 

sweet

adj
  • Very pleasing; agreeable. 

  • An intensifier. 

  • Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale. 

  • Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur. 

  • Having a pleasant smell. 

  • Not having a salty taste. 

  • Fresh; not salt or brackish. 

  • Doing well; in a good or happy position. 

  • Retaining a portion of sugar. 

  • Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar. 

  • Having a helpful disposition. 

  • Having a pleasing disposition. 

  • Having a taste of sugar. 

  • Romantically fixated; enamored with; fond of. 

  • Having a pleasant sound. 

  • Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair. 

noun
  • The basic taste sensation induced by sugar. 

  • A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy. 

  • Synonym of sweetheart, a term of affection. 

  • A food eaten for dessert. 

adv
  • In a sweet manner. 

intj
  • Used as a positive response to good news or information. 

How often have the words dear and sweet occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )