 |
3 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Precious \Pre"cious\, adjective [OF. precious, precius, precios, F. pr['e]cieux, L. pretiosus, fr. pretium price, worth, value. See {Price}.]
1. Of great price; costly; as, a precious stone. ''The precious bane.'' --Milton.
2. Of great value or worth; very valuable; highly esteemed; dear; beloved; as, precious recollections.
She is more precious than rules. --Prov. iii. 15.
Many things which are most precious are neglected only because the value of them lieth hid. --Hooker.
Note: Also used ironically; as, a precious rascal.
3. Particular; fastidious; overnice; overrefined. Cf. {Pr['e]cieuse}, {Preciosity}.
Lest that precious folk be with me wroth. --Chaucer.
Elaborate embroidery of precious language. --Saintsbury. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
{Precious metals}, the uncommon and highly valuable metals, esp. gold and silver.
{Precious stones}, gems; jewels.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
precious
adjective
1: characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for; "a cherished friend"; "children are precious"; "a treasured heirloom"; "so good to feel wanted" [syn: {cherished}, {treasured}, {wanted}]
2: of high worth or cost; "diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are precious stones"
3: obviously contrived to charm; "an insufferably precious performance"; "a child with intolerably cute mannerisms" [syn: {cute}]
adverb: extremely; "there is precious little time left" [syn: {preciously}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
173 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
 |
Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. Audio provided by one of our generous visitors. - KM |