precious
Of high value or worth.
Adjective 4 meanings
Of high value or worth.
Regarded with love or tenderness.
“The way my partner looks at me is just so precious.”
Excessively complicated.
Extremely protective or strict (about something).
“Writers are often very precious about their work.”
Noun 1 meaning
Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
Adverb 1 meaning
Very; an intensifier.
“There is precious little we can do.”
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.
Similar and opposite words
PRECIOUS at a glance
PRECIOUS has 8 letters and scores 12 points in Scrabble (P 3 + R 1 + E 1 + C 3 + I 1 + O 1 + U 1 + S 1) and 15 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,025 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with precious
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