precious

American  

[presh-uhs] / ˈprɛʃ əs /

adjective

1. of high price or great value; very valuable or costly.

   precious metals.

2. highly esteemed for some spiritual, nonmaterial, or moral quality.

   precious memories.

3. dear; beloved.

   a precious child.

   Synonyms:

   darling

4. affectedly or excessively delicate, refined, or nice.

   precious manners.

5. flagrant; gross.

   a precious fool.

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noun

1. a dearly beloved person; darling.

adverb

1. extremely; very.

   She wastes precious little time.

precious British  

/ ˈprɛʃəs /

adjective

1. beloved; dear; cherished

2. very costly or valuable

3. held in high esteem, esp in moral or spiritual matters

4. very fastidious or affected, as in speech, manners, etc

5. informal worthless

   you and your precious ideas!

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adverb

1. informal (intensifier)

   there's precious little left

Related Words

See valuable.

Other Word Forms

• nonprecious adjective
• nonpreciously adverb
• nonpreciousness noun
• preciously adverb
• preciousness noun
• unprecious adjective
• unpreciously adverb
• unpreciousness noun

Etymology

Origin of precious

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English preciose (from Old French precios ), from Latin pretiōsus “costly, valuable,” equivalent to preti(um) “price, value, worth” ( price ) + -ōsus -ous

Example Sentences

Treasury yields rose across all maturities, the WSJ Dollar Index saw its largest quarterly gain, and precious metals declined.

From Barron's

The firm recommends investors that who like gold allocate a mid-single-digit percentage of their portfolio to the precious metal as a hedge and a way to diversify.

From Barron's

Spurs don't play again until 12 April and that gives him precious time to assess his squad.

From BBC

Iraq's precious archaeological sites, some dating back thousands of years, had for years faced threats ranging from climate change to successive conflicts.

From Barron's

“The precious metal appears to have found some support near $4,500 an ounce, with investors taking advantage of cheaper gold as inflation worries weighed on the metal,” analysts at ANZ said.

From The Wall Street Journal