PRECIOUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does precious mean? 

• PRECIOUS (adjective)
  The adjective PRECIOUS has 4 senses:

1. characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for

2. of high worth or cost

3. held in great esteem for admirable qualities especially of an intrinsic nature

4. obviously contrived to charm

  Familiarity information: PRECIOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.

• PRECIOUS (adverb)
  The adverb PRECIOUS has 1 sense:

1. extremely

  Familiarity information: PRECIOUS used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRECIOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for

Synonyms:

cherished; precious; treasured; wanted

Context example:

so good to feel wanted

Similar:

loved (held dear)

Derivation:

preciousness (the positive quality of being precious and beyond value)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of high worth or cost

Context example:

diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are precious stones

Similar:

valuable (having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange)

Derivation:

preciousness (the quality possessed by something with a great price or value)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Held in great esteem for admirable qualities especially of an intrinsic nature

Synonyms:

precious; valued

Context example:

precious memories

Similar:

worthy (having worth or merit or value; being honorable or admirable)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Obviously contrived to charm

Synonyms:

cute; precious

Context example:

a child with intolerably cute mannerisms

Similar:

artful (marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft)

Derivation:

preciosity; preciousness (the quality of being fastidious or excessively refined)

• PRECIOUS (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Extremely

Synonyms:

precious; preciously

Context example:

there is precious little time left

Domain usage:

intensifier; intensive (a modifier that has little meaning except to intensify the meaning it modifies)

 Context examples 

I was standing alone before the fire, when Dora came stealing softly in, to give me that usual precious little kiss before I went.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

You are too precious to us to have such risk.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Precious lot you know about dogs, her brother sneered; and I wish you’d leave me alone.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

And no time is so beautiful and precious to parents as the first years of the little lives given to them to train.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

We can imagine that in the confusion of flight something precious, something which he could not bear to part with, had been left behind.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You would lose your precious life, and you may lay to that.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Despite the potential riches of precious stones, HAT-P-7b is not a comfortable place to be.

(Exoplanet Could Have Clouds of Rubies, Sapphires, VOA)

Here are the precious relics, and, oh, I pray you that you will handle them softly and with reverence, else had I rather left my unworthy bones here by the wayside.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then he took up a sack full of precious stones, and slipped away again under the rock into his hole.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Mars comes by a sign every two years, so be ready in January when Mars returns to the most precious professional spot for you—Sagittarius.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)