invaluable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- invaluableness noun
- invaluably adverb
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.
The teams got invaluable data — and some wonderful video too.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
She describes having midwives on set as "invaluable" but she also had conversations with women in her own life, many of whom had experienced pregnancy loss.
From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026
That sense of closure is invaluable for people who have spent years worrying about the possibility of a recurrence.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
Like the diary of Samuel Pepys or the memoirs of François-René de Chateaubriand, “Beloved Son Felix,” first published in 1840, is an invaluable and entertaining firsthand exploration of a bygone era.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 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.
