What does precious mean?

Definitions for precious
ˈprɛʃ əspre·cious

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word precious.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. cherished, precious, treasured, wantedadjective

    characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for

    "a cherished friend"; "children are precious"; "a treasured heirloom"; "so good to feel wanted"

  2. preciousadjective

    of high worth or cost

    "diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are precious stones"

  3. valued, preciousadjective

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

    "a valued friend"; "precious memories"

  4. cute, preciousadverb

    obviously contrived to charm

    "an insufferably precious performance"; "a child with intolerably cute mannerisms"

  5. precious, preciouslyadverb

    extremely

    "there is precious little time left"

Wiktionary

  1. preciousnoun

    someone (or something) who is loved; a darling

  2. preciousadverb

    used as an intensifier

    There is precious little we can do.

  3. preciousadjective

    of high value or worth, or seemingly regarded as such

  4. preciousadjective

    regarded with love or tenderness.

  5. preciousadjective

    treated with too much reverence.

  6. preciousadjective

    contrived to be cute or charming

  7. Etymology: From precious, from precios, from pretiosus, from pretium; see price.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. PRECIOUSadjective

    Etymology: precieux, Fr. pretiosus, Lat.

    Many things, which are most precious, are neglected only because the value of them lieth hid. Richard Hooker.

    I cannot but remember such things were,
    That were most precious to me. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    Why in that rawness left you wife and children,
    Those precious motives, those strong knots of love,
    Without leave taking? William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    I never saw
    Such precious deeds in one that promis’d nought
    But begg’ry and poor luck. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

    These virtues are the hidden beauties of a soul, which make it lovely and precious in his sight, from whom no secrets are concealed. Joseph Addison, Spectator.

    Let none admire
    That riches grow in hell; that soil may best
    Deserve the precious bane. John Milton.

    More of the same kind, concerning these precious saints amongst the Turks, may be seen in Pietro della valle. John Locke.

Wikipedia

  1. Precious

    Precious is a song by Annie Lennox. It was released as the second single from her debut solo album, Diva, in 1992 and peaked at number 23 in the UK. The B-side, Step by Step, was later covered by Whitney Houston for the soundtrack of her 1996 film, The Preacher's Wife, and became a top 10 hit. This track is unrelated to the B-Side track by Eurythmics of the same name.

ChatGPT

  1. precious

    Precious generally refers to something that is highly valued, cherished, or considered of great importance. It can be used to describe something rare, valuable, or sentimental in nature, often associated with inherent beauty, uniqueness, or significance. Precious items or qualities are often treated with care, protection, and esteem.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Preciousadjective

    of great price; costly; as, a precious stone

  2. Preciousadjective

    of great value or worth; very valuable; highly esteemed; dear; beloved; as, precious recollections

  3. Preciousadjective

    particular; fastidious; overnice

  4. Etymology: [OF. precious, precius, precios, F. prcieux, L. pretiosus, fr. pretium price, worth, value. See Price.]

Wikidata

  1. Precious

    Precious were a British girl group, comprising Louise Rose, Anya Lahiri, Sophie McDonnell, Kalli Clark-Sternberg and Jenny Frost. They first achieved fame as the UK's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest and went on to become a moderately popular act until the group disbanded in 2000.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Precious

    presh′us, adj. of great price or worth: costly: highly esteemed: worthless, contemptible (in irony): fastidious, overnice: (coll.) considerable: (B.) valuable because rare.—adv. (coll.) extremely.—n. Precios′ity, fastidiousness, affected overrefinement.—adv. Prec′iously.—ns. Prec′ious-met′al, a metal of great value, as gold or silver; Prec′iousness; Prec′ious-stone, a stone of value and beauty for ornamentation: a gem or jewel. [O. Fr. precios (Fr. précieux)—L. pretiosuspretium, price.]

Suggested Resources

  1. precious

    Quotes by precious -- Explore a large variety of famous quotes made by precious on the Quotes.net website.

  2. precious

    Song lyrics by precious -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by precious on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. PRECIOUS

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Precious is ranked #113155 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Precious surname appeared 155 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Precious.

    80.6% or 125 total occurrences were White.
    9.6% or 15 total occurrences were Black.
    6.4% or 10 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.

British National Corpus

  1. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'precious' in Adjectives Frequency: #717

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of precious in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of precious in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of precious in a Sentence

  1. Araceli Leanos:

    To the aggressor, I forgive you. You were a victim too. As a 16-year-old, the community failed you, just like it failed my precious baby.

  2. Marcus Aurelius:

    When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

  3. Madelyn Esposito-Smith:

    Covid has incinerated sexual desire, couples that live together lost any intrigue and mystery working remotely side by side, and alone time to recharge became a precious commodity.

  4. Will Rostov:

    We're facing a clean water emergency in California and, despite a water-scarcity crisis caused by the worst drought on record, DOGGR is turning its back on its contamination problem until 2017, the agency is not enforcing the Safe Drinking Water Act and it is endangering precious sources of drinking water. This needs to stop now.

  5. Benjamin Disraeli:

    Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

precious#1#6395#10000

Translations for precious

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"precious." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/precious>.

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    (music) a curved line spanning notes that are to be played legato
    A couvade
    B subrogation
    C jocularity
    D slur

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