precious
//ˈpɹɛʃ.əs//
Forms
- Comparative
- more precious
- Superlative
- most precious
- Plural
- preciouses
Definitions
1.Of high value or worth.
- The crown had many precious gemstones. This building work needs site access, and tell the city council that I don't care about a few lorry tyre ruts across their precious grass verge.
2.Regarded with love or tenderness.
- The way my partner looks at me is just so precious.
3.Treated with too much reverence.
- He spent hours painting the eyes of the portrait, which his fellow artists regarded as a bit precious.
4.Excessively complicated.
1.Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
- “It isn't fair, my precious, is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?”
- She sat down with the dogs in her lap. "I won't neglect you for any one, will I, my preciouses?"
1.Very; an intensifier.
- There is precious little we can do.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3837
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English precious, borrowed from Old French precios (“valuable, costly, precious, beloved, also affected, finical”)
From Latin pretiōsus (“of great value, costly, dear, precious”)
From pretium (“value, price”); see price.