Definitions for precious
ˈprɛʃ əspre·cious

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. cherished, precious, treasured, wanted(adj)

   characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for

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

2. precious(adj)

   of high worth or cost

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

3. valued, precious(adj)

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

   "a valued friend"; "precious memories"

4. cute, precious(adverb)

   obviously contrived to charm

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

5. precious, preciously(adverb)

   extremely

   "there is precious little time left"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. precious(Noun)

   someone (or something) who is loved; a darling

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

2. precious(Adverb)

   used as an intensifier

   There is precious little we can do.

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

3. precious(Adjective)

   of high value or worth, or seemingly regarded as such

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

4. precious(Adjective)

   regarded with love or tenderness.

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

5. precious(Adjective)

   treated with too much reverence.

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

6. precious(Adjective)

   contrived to be cute or charming

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

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Precious(adj)

   of great price; costly; as, a precious stone

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

2. Precious(adj)

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

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

3. Precious(adj)

   particular; fastidious; overnice

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

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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. pretiosus—pretium, price.]

Suggested Resources(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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.

British National Corpus

1. Adjectives Frequency

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

How to pronounce precious?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say precious in sign language?

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. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Speech to the graduating class at Harvard (1978):

   We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life.

2. Kendrick Van Lion:

   Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession—their ignorance.

3. Joel H. Hildebrand:

   The invention of IQ did a great disservice to creativity in education. ... Individuality, personality, originality, are too precious to be meddled with by amateur psychiatrists whose patterns for a 'wholesome personality' are inevitably their own.

4. Purvi Raniga:

   Most precious gift we can give ourselves everyday is Self Confidence.

5. Mehmet Murat ildan:

   Talking wisely to the ignorant is throwing precious seeds to the desert sands!

Images & Illustrations of precious

Popularity rank by frequency of use