nearest and dearest

nearest and dearest

One's closest and fondest friends, companions, or relatives, as in It's a small gatheringwe're inviting only a dozen or so of our nearest and dearest. This rhyming expression has been used ironically since the late 1500s, as well as by Shakespeare in 1 Henry IV (3:2): "Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, which art my nearest and dearest enemy?"