precious

¹pre·cious

adj \ˈpre-shəs\

Definition of PRECIOUS

1

: of great value or high price <precious jewels>

2

: highly esteemed or cherished <a precious friend>

3

: excessively refined : affected <precious manners>

4

: great, thoroughgoing <a precious scoundrel>

— pre·cious·ness noun

Examples of PRECIOUS

1. diamonds and other precious stones
2. We can save precious time by taking this shortcut.
3. They were able to be together for only a few precious hours.
4. the family's most precious moments
5. That so many of China's cleverest and most creative men and women had to sell their books and their most precious carvings and family seals to keep themselves alive, while corpulent nationalists and their friends dined well in local banquet halls, gave them some right to schadenfreude. —Simon Winchester, The Man Who Loved China, 2008
6. Of course, the war pronounces on us all. Some precious glee we seek is absent, the season less substantial, less likeable. —Richard Ford, Wall Street Journal, 14-15 June 2008
7. The world is, as usual, a frightening place to enter for all save the precious few impaired by inherited security. —David Mamet, True and False, 1997
8. … and, though to him those precious moments at the end of each day had symbolized the realization of his every hope, to her they had meant not a goddamn thing. —Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997

Origin of PRECIOUS

Middle English, from Anglo-French precios, from Latin pretiosus, from pretium price — more at price

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to PRECIOUS

Synonyms: big-ticket, dear, expensive, extravagant, high, high-end, high-ticket, costly, premium, priceless, pricey (also pricy), spendy [chiefly Northwest], ultraexpensive, valuable

Antonyms: cheap, inexpensive

Related Words: exorbitant, overpriced, prohibitive, sky-high, steep, stiff, unaffordable, uneconomic (or uneconomical), unreasonable; inestimable, invaluable; deluxe, luxurious, sumptuous

Near Antonyms: moderate, reasonable; valueless, worthless; discounted

see all synonyms and antonyms

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