precious
2 ENTRIES FOUND:
Britannica Dictionary definition of PRECIOUS
[more precious; most precious]
1
:
rare and worth a lot of money
-
diamonds and other precious stones
-
precious jewels/jewelry
◊ A precious metal is an expensive metal (such as gold) that is used especially for jewelry.
—
see also semiprecious
2
:
very valuable or important
:
too valuable or important to be wasted or used carelessly
-
We can save precious time by taking this shortcut.
-
They were able to be together for only a few precious hours/days.
-
precious resources
3
:
greatly loved, valued, or important
-
precious memories
-
the family's most precious moments
-
a very precious [=dear] friend
4
US, informal
:
having a very pleasing and usually youthful appearance or quality
:
cute
-
Aren't those children precious?
5
formal + disapproving
:
having a too careful, precise, or polite quality that seems false or annoying
-
The sometimes precious writing makes the book difficult to read.
-
precious manners
— preciously
adverb-
a somewhat preciously written book
-
We have preciously [=precious] little time left.
— preciousness
noun [noncount]-
The preciousness of the writing annoys me.
2
precious
/ˈprɛʃəs/
adverb
2
precious
/ˈprɛʃəs/
adverb
Britannica Dictionary definition of PRECIOUS
:
very or extremely
-
She had precious little to say.
-
There are precious few hours of sunlight left.
