precious Hear it!

precious Definition

pre·cious (pres̸həs)

adjective

  1. of great price or value; costly
  2. of great desirability; held in high esteem precious rights
  3. beloved; dear
  4. very fastidious, overrefined, or affected, as in behavior, language, etc.
  5. very great a precious liar

Etymology: ME < OFr precios < L pretiosus < pretium, price

adverb

Informal very

precious Related Forms

pre·ciously adverb pre·cious·ness noun

precious Synonyms

precious

modif.

  1. Valuable

    high-priced, costly, dear; see expensive, valuable 1.

  2. Beloved

    cherished, inestimable, prized; see beloved, favorite.

  3. 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.