Precious

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: pre=cious

CIDE DICTIONARY

Precious, a. [OF. precious, precius, precios, F. précieux, L. pretiosus, fr. pretium price, worth, value. See Price.].

•  Of great price; costly; as, a precious stone.  Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  Of great value or worth; very valuable; highly esteemed; dear; beloved; as, precious recollections.  [1913 Webster]

  "Also used ironically; as, a precious rascal."  [1913 Webster]

  "She is more precious than rules."  [1913 Webster]

  "Many things which are most precious are neglected only because the value of them lieth hid."  [1913 Webster]
•  Particular; fastidious; overnice; overrefined. Cf. Précieuse, Preciosity.  [1913 Webster]

  "Lest that precious folk be with me wroth."  [1913 Webster]

  "Elaborate embroidery of precious language."  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Precious metals, the uncommon and highly valuable metals, esp. gold and silver. -- Precious stones, gems; jewels.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Precious, adj. & adv.
--adj.
1 of great value or worth.
2 beloved; much prized (precious memories).
3 affectedly refined, esp. in language or manner.
4 colloq. often iron. a considerable (a precious lot you know about it). b expressing contempt or disdain (you can keep your precious flowers).
--adv. colloq. extremely, very (tried precious hard; had precious little left).

Idiom

precious metals gold, silver, and platinum. precious stone a piece of mineral having great value esp. as used in jewellery.

Derivative

preciously adv. preciousness n.

Etymology

ME f. OF precios f. L pretiosus f. pretium price

THESAURUS

Precious

Gongoresque, Gongoristic, Marinistic, absolute, admired, adored, affected, alembicated, angel, arrant, artful, artificial, babe, baby, baby-doll, beloved, beyond price, buttercup, cherished, cherub, chichi, chick, chickabiddy, choice, choosy, classical, complete, consummate, costly, crass, darling, dear, dearly beloved, deary, decided, definitive, doll, downright, duck, duckling, effete, egregious, elaborate, elaborated, elegant, esteemed, euphemistic, euphuistic, exact, expensive, exquisite, fastidious, favorite, finicky, flagrant, formalistic, fussy, glaring, golden, good as gold, goody good-good, goody-goody, gross, hallowed, held dear, high-priced, hon, honey, honey bunch, honey child, hyperelegant, idolized, inestimable, intolerable, invaluable, irreplaceable, la-di-da, lamb, lambkin, love, loved, lover, mannered, methodical, meticulous, mincing, namby-pamby, nice, of great price, orderly, ostentatious, out-and-out, outright, overdone, overelaborate, overelegant, overnice, overprecise, overrefined, particular, pedantic, perfect, persnickety, pet, petkins, picky, popular, positive, precieuse, precieux, precious heart, precise, precisian, precisianistic, precisionist, precisionistic, pretentious, priceless, pricey, prized, profound, pronounced, proper, punctilious, puristic, rank, rare, recherche, regular, revered, rich, scrupulous, shattering, shocking, showy, simpering, snookums, sophisticated, squeamish, stark, stark-staring, studied, sugar, superlative, surpassing, sweet, sweetheart, sweetie, sweetkins, sweets, the veriest, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, treasured, unbearable, unconscionable, undeniable, unequivocal, unmitigated, unnatural, unqualified, unrelieved, unspoiled, utter, valuable, valued, venerable, venerated, well-beloved, well-liked, white-haired, worthy

ROGET THESAURUS

Precious

Goodness

N goodness, excellence, merit, virtue, value, worth, price, super-excellence, supereminence, superiority, perfection, coup de maitre, masterpiece, chef d'ouvre, prime, flower, cream, elite, pick, A, nonesuch, nonpareil, creme de la creme, flower of the flock, cock of the roost, salt of the earth, champion, prodigy, tidbit, gem, gem of the first water, bijou, precious stone, jewel, pearl, diamond, ruby, brilliant, treasure, good thing, rara avis, one in a thousand, beneficence, good man, harmless, hurtless, unobnoxious, innocuous, innocent, inoffensive, beneficial, valuable, of value, serviceable, advantageous, edifying, profitable, salutary, favorable, propitious fair, good, good as gold, excellent, better, superior, above par, nice, fine, genuine, best, choice, select, picked, elect, recherche, rare, priceless, unparagoned, unparalleled, superlatively, good, bully, crackajack, giltedged, superfine, superexcellent, of the first water, first-rate, first-class, high- wrought, exquisite, very best, crack, prime, tiptop, capital, cardinal, standard, inimitable, admirable, estimable, praiseworthy, pleasing, couleur de rose, precious, of great price, costly, worth its weight in gold, worth a Jew's eye, priceless, invaluable, inestimable, precious as the apple of the eye, tolerable, up to the mark, unexceptionable, unobjectionable, satisfactory, tidy, in good condition, in fair condition, fresh, sound, beneficially, well, Jewels five words long, long may such goodness live!, the luxury of doing good.

Greatness

N greatness, magnitude, size, multitude, immensity, enormity, infinity, might, strength, intensity, fullness, importance, great quantity, quantity, deal, power, sight, pot, volume, world, mass, heap, stock, peck, bushel, load, cargo, cartload, wagonload, shipload, flood, spring tide, abundance, principal part, chief part, main part, greater part, major part, best part, essential part, bulk, mass, great, greater, large, considerable, fair, above par, big, huge, Herculean, cyclopean, ample, abundant, full, intense, strong, sound, passing, heavy, plenary, deep, high, signal, at its height, in the zenith, world-wide, widespread, far-famed, extensive, wholesale, many, goodly, noble, precious, mighty, sad, grave, heavy, serious, far gone, arrant, downright, utter, uttermost, crass, gross, arch, profound, intense, consummate, rank, uninitiated, red-hot, desperate, glaring, flagrant, stark staring, thorough-paced, thoroughgoing, roaring, thumping, extraordinary, important, unsurpassed, complete, august, grand, dignified, sublime, majestic, vast, immense, enormous, extreme, inordinate, excessive, extravagant, exorbitant, outrageous, preposterous, unconscionable, swinging, monstrous, overgrown, towering, stupendous, prodigious, astonishing, incredible, marvelous, unlimited, unapproachable, unutterable, indescribable, ineffable, unspeakable, inexpressible, beyond expression, fabulous, undiminished, unabated, unreduced, unrestricted, absolute, positive, stark, decided, unequivocal, essential, perfect, finished, remarkable, of mark, marked, pointed, veriest, noteworthy, renowned, truly, decidedly, unequivocally, purely, absolutely, seriously, essentially, fundamentally, radically, downright, in all conscience, for the most part, in the main, entirely, abundantly, widely, far and wide, greatly, much, muckle, well, indeed, very, very much, a deal, no end of, most, not a little, pretty, pretty well, enough, in a great measure, richly, to a large extent, to a great extent, to a gigantic extent, on a large scale, so, never so, ever so, ever so dole, scrap, shred, tag, splinter, rag, much, by wholesale, mighty, powerfully, with a witness, ultra, in the extreme, extremely, exceedingly, intensely, exquisitely, acutely, indefinitely, immeasurably, beyond compare, beyond comparison, beyond measure, beyond all bounds, incalculably, infinitely, preeminently, superlatively, immoderately, monstrously, preposterously, inordinately, exorbitantly, excessively, enormously, out of all proportion, with a vengeance, particularly, remarkably, singularly, curiously, uncommonly, unusually, peculiarly, notably, signally, strikingly, pointedly, mainly, chiefly, famously, egregiously, prominently, glaringly, emphatically, kat exochin, strangely, wonderfully, amazingly, surprisingly, astonishingly, incredibly, marvelously, awfully, stupendously, peculiarly, furiously, severely, desperately, tremendously, extravagantly, confoundedly, deucedly, devilishly, with a vengeance, a outrance, a toute outrance, painfully, sadly, grossly, sorely, bitterly, piteously, grievously, miserably, cruelly, woefully, lamentably, shockingly, frightfully, dreadfully, fearfully, terribly, horribly, a maximis ad minima, greatness knows itself, mightiest powers by deepest calms are fed, minimum decet libere cui multum licet, some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Dearness

N dearness, high price, famine price, fancy price, overcharge, extravagance, exorbitance, extortion, heavy pull upon the purse, dear, high, high priced, of great price, expensive, costly, precious, worth a Jew's eye, dear bought, at a premium, not to be had, not to be had for love or money, beyond price, above price, priceless, of priceless value, unreasonable, extravagant, exorbitant, extortionate, overpriced, more than it's woth, dear, dearly, at great cost, heavy cost, a grands frais, prices looking up, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, le cout en ote le gout, vel prece vel pretio, too high a price to pay, not worth it.

Love

N love, fondness, liking, inclination, regard, dilection, admiration, fancy, affection, sympathy, fellow-feeling, tenderness, heart, brotherly love, benevolence, attachment, yearning, eros, tender passion, amour, gyneolatry, gallantry, passion, flame, devotion, fervor, enthusiasm, transport of love, rapture, enchantment, infatuation, adoration, idolatry, Cupid, Venus, myrtle, true lover's knot, love token, love suit, love affair, love tale, love story, the, old story, plighted love, courtship, amourette, free love, maternal love, storge, parental love, young love, puppy love, attractiveness, popularity, favorite, lover, suitor, follower, admirer, adorer, wooer, amoret, beau, sweetheart, inamorato, swain, young man, flame, love, truelove, leman, Lothario, gallant, paramour, amoroso, cavaliere servente, captive, cicisbeo, caro sposo, inamorata, ladylove, idol, darling, duck, Dulcinea, angel, goddess, cara sposa, betrothed, affianced, fiancee, flirt, coquette, amorette, pair of turtledoves, abode of love, agapemone, loving, fond of, taken with, struck with, smitten, bitten, attached to, wedded to, enamored, charmed, in love, love-sick, over head and ears in love, head over heels in love, affectionate, tender, sweet upon, sympathetic, loving, amorous, amatory, fond, erotic, uxorious, ardent, passionate, rapturous, devoted, motherly, loved, beloved well beloved, dearly beloved, dear, precious, darling, pet, little, favorite, popular, congenial, after one's mind, after one's taste, after one's fancy, after one's own heart, to one's mind, to one's taste, to one's fancy, to one's own heart, in one's good graces, dear as the apple of one's eye, nearest to one's heart, lovable, adorable, lovely, sweet, attractive, seductive, winning, charming, engaging, interesting, enchanting, captivating, fascinating, bewitching, amiable, like an angel, amantes amentes, credula res amor est, militat omnis amasius, love conquers all, omnia vincit amor, si vis amari ama, the sweetest joy, the wildest woe.