precious Definition
pre·cious (pres̸h′əs)
adjective
- of great price or value; costly
- of great desirability; held in high esteem precious rights
- beloved; dear
- very fastidious, overrefined, or affected, as in behavior, language, etc.
- very great a precious liar
Etymology: ME < OFr precios < L pretiosus < pretium, price
adverb
Informal very
precious Related Forms
precious Synonyms
precious
modif.
Valuable
high-priced, costly, dear; see expensive, valuable 1.Beloved
cherished, inestimable, prized; see beloved, favorite.Refined and delicate
overrefined, overnice, fragile, fastidious, affected, studied; see also dainty 1, refined 2.
precious Usage Examples
Modifies a noun
- metal: Gold Overview Gold is a precious metal, with a very high cost.
- commodity: With time now a very precious commodity we had to start shooting straight away.
- stone: A girdle of gold, inlaid with precious stones, was around him.
- jewel: Often grains of gold, pearls, and amber and other precious jewels would be hidden among various dishes and their contents.
- cargo: The precious cargo at Heathrow Airport I'm sure we all felt some degree of trepidation.
- gem: The necklace evokes feelings of the beach and precious gems.
Used with adjective complement
- seem: It seemed too precious an offering for any degree of publicity.
- become: This verse also serves to remind us how these prepositions can become precious to us - by faith.
- hold: They discount what we hold precious, and not just to be awkward.
- get: The NEC get very precious about their own regions.
Infinitive complement
- waste: I can drink alcohol but I do not drink often now, the next day is too precious to waste with hangover!
- leave: The vision of the future is too precious to leave to the responsibility of the few.
Modifying Another Word
- infinitely: Time is infinitely precious, with the golden opportunities it presents - just once, in so many cases.
- too: The vision of the future is too precious to leave to the responsibility of the few.
- equally: The great buildings of which they are custodians stand among literally thousands of smaller but equally precious places of worship.
- so: Memories are so precious, you know so I would like them to have all these memories of what they did with us.
- very: The NEC get very precious about their own regions.
- especially: By extension the phrase was then applied to anything or anyone being especially precious.
Preposition: in
sight: For us, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
Preposition: than
gold: The Spanish then imported it to Europe, where it seduced the European courts and became even more precious than Aztec gold.
Browse dictionary entries near precious
- ‹ preciosity
- ‹ precinct
- ‹ precession of the equinoxes
- ‹ precession
- ‹ precess
- ‹ preceptress
- ‹ preceptory
- ‹ preceptor
- ‹ preceptive
- ‹ precept

