dear Sir

English

Letter from 1942 using this form of salutation.

Alternative forms

• dear sir
• dear Sir or Madam, dear Sir/Madam (if gender of addressee is unknown)
• dear Sirs, dear sirs (with multiple addressees)

Phrase

dear Sir

1. (dated) Used as the salutation at the beginning of a formal letter when addressing persons – assumed to be male – of unknown names.

Usage notes

Usually, both words will be capitalized, the first because it is the first letter of a sentence, the second because it is used as a title of respect.

Translations

Translations

• Dutch: weledele heer m (archaic)
• Spanish: muy señor mío, muy señor nuestro
• Vietnamese: (kính) thưa/gửi/gởi (quý/quí) ông/ngài, (kính) thưa/gửi/gởi anh/em (if age of addressee is known)

Anagrams

• arrides, raiders