Standard Lemma guide

precious

adj · adv · name · noun · 17 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/
  • [ˈphɹwɛʃ.əs] ~ [ˈphɹwɛʃ.s̩]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛʃəs
  • CMU ARPABET: P R EH1 SH AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of high value or worth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The crown had many precious gemstones. This building work needs site access, and tell the city council that I don't care about a few lorry tyre ruts across their precious grass verge.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dear, valuable, without price, estimable, worthy, worthly, prizable, treasurous, worth every penny, invaluable, precious, priceless, unpriced, unvaluable, worth one's weight in gold

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Regarded with love or tenderness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The way my partner looks at me is just so precious.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Treated with too much reverence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory

Examples

  • He spent hours painting the eyes of the portrait, which his fellow artists regarded as a bit precious.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Excessively complicated.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: ironic

Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Extremely protective or strict (about something).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • Writers are often very precious about their work.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Blasted; damned.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: confounded, ever-loving, raasclaat, 4ucking, accursed, bally, blasted, bleeding, bleeping, blessed, blimming, blinking, bloody, blooming, consarned, cotton-picking, cowson, cursed, dadburn, dadgum, dagnabbed, damblasted, damn, damnable, damned, dang, danged, darn, darned, dashed, deuced, doggone, dratted, effing, fecking, flaming, flipping, freaking, fricking, frigging, fucking, fudging, fugging, furshlugginer, jiggered, goddam, goddamn, goddamned, goddarned, godforsaken, goldurn, gormed, goshdarn, goshdarned, hecking, holy, infernal, living, mollyfogging, motherfucking, pissing, plain, precious, ruddy, sniggered, sodding, stinking

Antonyms: none provided

7

adj

Meaning 7

Contrived to be cute or charming.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: saccharine, syrupy, twee

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cheesy, sappy, sickly sweet, bathetic, squishy, corny, drippy, gooey, hokey, icky, kitsch, kitschy, maudlin, mawkish, mushy, overemotional, oversentimental, overwrought, schmaltzy, slushy, soppy, soupy, syrupy, treacly

8

adj

Meaning 8

Thorough; utter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial

Examples

  • a precious rascal

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: absolute, perfect, wholesale, abject, frightful, arrant, categoric, categorical, complete, consummate, decided, downright, full, full-blown, full-bore, full-on, mere, outright, out-and-out, precious, proper, pure, stark, rank, regular, right, root and branch, sheer, straight-out, thorough, thoroughgoing, total, unadulterated, unalloyed, unattenuated, uncompromising, unconditional, unfettered, unmitigated, unqualified, unreserved, unrestricted, utter

Antonyms: none provided

9

adv

Meaning 9

Very; an intensifier.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • There is precious little we can do.
  • precious few pictures of him exist

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

name

Meaning 10

A surname transferred from the nickname, originating as a male or female nickname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

name

Meaning 11

A female given name from English.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

adjective satellite

Meaning 13

obviously contrived to charm

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an insufferably precious performance
  • a child with intolerably cute mannerisms

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cute

Antonyms: none provided

14

adjective satellite

Meaning 14

characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cherished, treasured, wanted

Antonyms: none provided

15

adjective satellite

Meaning 15

of high worth or cost

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

adjective satellite

Meaning 16

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a valued friend
  • precious memories

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: valued

Antonyms: none provided

17

adverb

Meaning 17

extremely

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • there is precious little time left

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: preciously

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English precious, borrowed from Old French precios (“valuable, costly, precious, beloved, also affected, finical”), from Latin pretiōsus (“of great value, costly, dear, precious”), from pretium (“value, price”); see price.

Across languages

Translations

129 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: kosbaar — of high value or worth
  • Albanian: i çmuar — of high value or worth
  • Arabic: ثَمِين (ṯamīn) — of high value or worth
  • Armenian: թանկարժեք (tʻankaržekʻ) — of high value or worth
  • Asturian: preciosu — of high value or worth
  • Azerbaijani: qiymətli — of high value or worth
  • Belarusian: кашто́ўны (kaštówny) — of high value or worth
  • Belarusian: дарагі́ (darahí) — of high value or worth
  • Bengali: মূল্যবান (mulloban) — of high value or worth
  • Breton: prizius — of high value or worth
  • Bulgarian: скъпоце́нен (skǎpocénen) — of high value or worth
  • Bulgarian: це́нен (cénen) — of high value or worth
  • Bulgarian: скъп (skǎp) — of high value or worth
  • Burmese: အဖိုးတန် (a.hpui:tan) — of high value or worth
  • Catalan: preciós — of high value or worth
  • Cherokee: ᎦᎸᏉᏗ (galvquodi) — of high value or worth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 寶貴 /宝贵 (bǎoguì) — of high value or worth
  • Czech: drahocenný — of high value or worth
  • Czech: vzácný — of high value or worth
  • Czech: drahý — of high value or worth
  • Danish: dyrebar — of high value or worth
  • Dutch: kostbaar — of high value or worth
  • Dutch: waardevol — of high value or worth
  • Esperanto: kara — of high value or worth
  • Esperanto: kosta — of high value or worth
  • Esperanto: valorega — of high value or worth
  • Esperanto: altvalora — of high value or worth
  • Estonian: väärtuslik — of high value or worth
  • Finnish: kallisarvoinen — of high value or worth
  • French: précieux — of high value or worth
  • Galician: precioso — of high value or worth
  • Georgian: ძვირფასი (ʒvirpasi) — of high value or worth
  • German: kostbar — of high value or worth
  • German: wertvoll — of high value or worth
  • Greek: πολύτιμος (polýtimos) — of high value or worth
  • Hawaiian: makamae — of high value or worth
  • Hawaiian: hiwahiwa — of high value or worth
  • Hebrew: יָקָר (yaqár) — of high value or worth
  • Hindi: क़ीमती (qīmtī) — of high value or worth
  • Hindi: प्यारा (pyārā) — of high value or worth
  • Hungarian: értékes — of high value or worth
  • Hungarian: drága — of high value or worth
  • Hungarian: becses — of high value or worth
  • Icelandic: dýrmætur — of high value or worth
  • Indonesian: berharga — of high value or worth
  • Irish: luachmhar — of high value or worth
  • Irish: lómhar — of high value or worth
  • Irish: maoineach — of high value or worth
  • Italian: prezioso — of high value or worth
  • Japanese: 大切な (taisetsu-na) — of high value or worth
  • Kannada: ಅತ್ಯಮೂಲ್ಯ (atyamūlya) — of high value or worth
  • Kazakh: асыл (asyl) — of high value or worth
  • Kazakh: қимас (qimas) — of high value or worth
  • Khmer: ដ៏មានតម្លៃ (dɑɑ mien tɑmlay) — of high value or worth
  • Korean: 귀중한 (gwijunghan) — of high value or worth
  • Kyrgyz: кымбаттуу (kımbattuu) — of high value or worth
  • Kyrgyz: асыл (asıl) — of high value or worth
  • Lao: ມີຄ່າ (mī khā) — of high value or worth
  • Latin: pretiōsus — of high value or worth
  • Latvian: dārgs — of high value or worth
  • Lithuanian: brangus — of high value or worth
  • Macedonian: скапоцен (skapocen) — of high value or worth
  • Macedonian: скап (skap) — of high value or worth
  • Malayalam: പിലയേറിയ (pilayēṟiya) — of high value or worth
  • Maltese: prezzjuż — of high value or worth
  • Māori: marihi — of high value or worth
  • Māori: matahīapo — of high value or worth
  • Māori: puiaki — of high value or worth
  • Māori: puipuiaki — of high value or worth
  • Māori: mōmōhanga — of high value or worth
  • Marathi: मूल्यवान (mūlyavān) — of high value or worth
  • Mongolian: үнэгэн (ünegen) — of high value or worth
  • Nepali: अमूल्य (amūlya) — of high value or worth
  • Norwegian Bokmål: dyrebar — of high value or worth
  • Occitan: preciós — of high value or worth
  • Old Occitan: precios — of high value or worth
  • Persian: گرانبها (gerânbahâ) — of high value or worth
  • Polish: cenny — of high value or worth
  • Polish: drogocenny — of high value or worth
  • Polish: drogi — of high value or worth
  • Portuguese: precioso — of high value or worth
  • Romanian: prețios — of high value or worth
  • Russian: драгоце́нный (dragocénnyj) — of high value or worth
  • Russian: це́нный (cénnyj) — of high value or worth
  • Russian: дорого́й (dorogój) — of high value or worth
  • Scottish Gaelic: prìseil — of high value or worth
  • Scottish Gaelic: luachmhor — of high value or worth
  • Serbo-Croatian: драгоцен — of high value or worth
  • Serbo-Croatian: драг — of high value or worth
  • Serbo-Croatian: dragocen — of high value or worth
  • Serbo-Croatian: drag — of high value or worth
  • Slovak: vzácny — of high value or worth
  • Slovak: drahý — of high value or worth
  • Slovene: dragocen — of high value or worth
  • Spanish: precioso — of high value or worth
  • Swedish: dyrbar — of high value or worth
  • Tajik: гаронбаҳо (garonbaho) — of high value or worth
  • Tajik: қиматбаҳо (qimatbaho) — of high value or worth
  • Tamil: விலையுர்ந்த (vilaiyurnta) — of high value or worth
  • Tamil: விலைமதிப்பற்ற (vilaimatippaṟṟa) — of high value or worth
  • Tày: bắt — of high value or worth
  • Telugu: అమూల్యమైన (amūlyamaina) — of high value or worth
  • Thai: มีค่า (mee kâa) — of high value or worth
  • Thai: มีประโยชน์ (mee bprà-yòht) — of high value or worth
  • Turkish: değerli — of high value or worth
  • Turkish: kıymetli — of high value or worth
  • Ottoman Turkish: عزیز (ʼazîz) — of high value or worth
  • Turkmen: gymmatbaha — of high value or worth
  • Ukrainian: дорогоці́нний (dorohocínnyj) — of high value or worth
  • Ukrainian: кошто́вний (koštóvnyj) — of high value or worth
  • Ukrainian: дороги́й (dorohýj) — of high value or worth
  • Urdu: قیمتی (qīmtī) — of high value or worth
  • Uzbek: qimmatbaho — of high value or worth
  • Uzbek: qimmat — of high value or worth
  • Vietnamese: quý — of high value or worth
  • Vietnamese: quý báu — of high value or worth
  • Bulgarian: любим (ljubim) — regarded with love
  • Greek: πολύτιμος (polýtimos) — regarded with love
  • Hebrew: יָקָר (yaqár) — regarded with love
  • Italian: prezioso — regarded with love
  • Italian: adorato — regarded with love
  • Italian: unico — regarded with love
  • Plautdietsch: leef — regarded with love
  • Turkish: değerli — regarded with love
  • Turkish: kıymetli — regarded with love
  • Ottoman Turkish: عزیز (ʼazîz) — regarded with love
  • German: süßlich — contrived to be cute
  • German: kitschig — contrived to be cute
  • Greek: επιτηδευμένος (epitidevménos) — contrived to be cute
Real reading context

precious in complete knowledge articles

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