invaluable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of invaluable
First recorded in 1570–80; in- 3 + valuable, in obsolete sense “capable of valuation”
Explanation
If you're robbed, much of what is stolen can be replaced. All you need is the cash value of what was lost. But some things––family photos, heirloom jewelry––are invaluable, meaning extremely valuable, or priceless. At first glance, you would think that invaluable means "not valuable." But to understand its meaning, you'd have to know that it was formed from the prefix in- "not" plus the verb value, plus the suffix –able "able to be." So something invaluable has such great value that its value can't be calculated.
Vocabulary lists containing invaluable
Mandela's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Address
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The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
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The Magic Fish
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That has left a big hole on the ice and in the locker room, where Kopitar’s leadership was invaluable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
"That is an invaluable data stream to an AI platform, which can then interpret that data and provide you with the best possible information related to it," Wood says.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
That exposure becomes an invaluable series of lessons, whether or not you went to college.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
But Ian McCredie, MI6’s undercover agent in the embassy, quickly concluded that the Russian was a genuine defector with access to invaluable intelligence about KGB operations in Iran.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Colonel Cathcart bewailed the miserable fate that had given him for an invaluable assistant someone as common as Colonel Korn.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
