of high price or great value; very valuable or costly: precious metals.
highly esteemed for some spiritual, nonmaterial, or moral quality: precious memories.
dear; beloved: a precious child.
affectedly or excessively delicate, refined, or nice: precious manners.
flagrant; gross: a precious fool.
noun
a dearly beloved person; darling.
adverb
extremely; very: She wastes precious little time.
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” (see price) + -ōsus-ous
“We need to be able to direct our attention to which patients are most likely to benefit from, in this case, frankly, a relatively precious resource of high titre convalescent plasma,” Musser says.
COVID-19 plasma treatments may be safe, but we don’t know if they work|Tina Hesman Saey|August 25, 2020|Science News
Though the city’s planning department recently studied how sea level rise will affect its most precious assets, the threat hasn’t featured prominently in public discussion of the redevelopment plan.
Nobody’s Talking About the Sports Arena Flood Zone|MacKenzie Elmer|August 19, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Claiming that much of its business is an Israeli state secret, it has offered precious little public detail about its operations, customers, or safeguards.
Research-grade telescopes are a rare and precious commodity, and letting one sit idle for even a handful of nights is a drastic measure.
Social Distancing From the Stars|Emily Levesque|August 11, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Lust motivates us to pursue a range of sexual partners—to explore and experiment with possible “mates”—while attraction encourages us to get selective, to conserve precious time and energy by coupling with someone specific.
Your Romantic Ideals Don’t Predict Who Your Future Partner Will Be - Issue 88: Love & Sex|Alice Fleerackers|August 5, 2020|Nautilus
Being there teaches you to think quickly, edit yourself, and not get too precious about your own work.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
From a lyrical standpoint, there are precious few that can catch Kendrick.
The 14 Best Songs of 2014: Bobby Shmurda, Future Islands, Drake, and More|Marlow Stern|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Second, they threaten one of the most precious resources in our state: public education that is open to all children.
Hunger Games Comes to New York State’s Public Schools|Zephyr Teachout|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The precious cargo: two American humanitarian workers with Ebola.
The American Ebola Rescue Plan Hinges on One Company. Meet Phoenix.|Abby Haglage|November 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There are precious few large-scale, ambitious, original works.
Christopher Nolan Uncut: On ‘Interstellar,’ Ben Affleck’s Batman, and the Future of Mankind|Marlow Stern|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was during this period of her life that she won a friendship quite as strong and quite as precious as that of old Grossetete.
The Village Rector|Honore de Balzac
Genius is to other gifts what the carbuncle is to the precious stones.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
I held up my precious book before him; I rapped the open page impressively with my forefinger.
The Moonstone|Wilkie Collins
Everything that belongs to her, or is connected with her, is precious to me.
The Personal History of David Copperfield |Charles Dickens
Last and most precious was the silver shilling, which she polished carefully with her chamois-skin pen-wiper before putting away.
The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor|Annie Fellows Johnston
British Dictionary definitions for precious
precious
/ (ˈprɛʃəs) /
adjective
beloved; dear; cherished
very costly or valuable
held in high esteem, esp in moral or spiritual matters
very fastidious or affected, as in speech, manners, etc
informalworthlessyou and your precious ideas!
adverb
informal(intensifier)there's precious little left
Derived forms of precious
preciously, adverbpreciousness, noun
Word Origin for precious
C13: from Old French precios, from Latin pretiōsus valuable, from pretium price, value