Dear John

English

Noun

Dear John (plural Dear Johns)

1. (often attributive) A Dear John letter in any form or medium.
   • 2011, Judy Duarte, Call Me Cowboy:

     One of my roommates, Kevin Baker, fell apart when his fiancée, an old high school sweetheart, gave him a Dear John phone call.

   • 2019, J. B. Curry, Bad Keys:

     She sent me a Dear John email and divorce papers from Sioux Falls, and I never saw her again.

   • 2022, Susan L. Carruthers, Dear John: Love and Loyalty in Wartime America, page 122:

     A Dear John was a letter from a wife that announced her desire for a divorce. Many GIs might have corrected the professor, however, pointing out that girlfriends and fiancées also sent Dear Johns.