Definition of PRECIOUS (original) (raw)
1
: of great value or high price
Synonyms
Examples of precious in a Sentence
Adjective
That so many of China's cleverest and most creative men and women had to sell their books and their most precious carvings and family seals to keep themselves alive, while corpulent nationalists and their friends dined well in local banquet halls, gave them some right to schadenfreude. —
Simon Winchester, The Man Who Loved China, 2008 Of course, the war pronounces on us all. Some precious glee we seek is absent, the season less substantial, less likeable. —Richard Ford, Wall Street Journal, 14-15 June 2008 The world is, as usual, a frightening place to enter for all save the precious few impaired by inherited security. —David Mamet, True and False, 1997 … and, though to him those precious moments at the end of each day had symbolized the realization of his every hope, to her they had meant not a goddamn thing. —Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
diamonds and other precious stones We can save precious time by taking this shortcut. They were able to be together for only a few precious hours. the family's most precious moments Adverb
She had precious little to say. There are precious few hours of sunlight left.
Recent Examples on the Web
The hills in and around Franklin are filled with all kinds of precious gems and minerals, from quartz to garnet to rubies. —Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 Sep. 2024 Maasai herders, from whose lands the reserve was carved, are prohibited from bringing their cattle to the reserve because the domestic animals are thought to take precious forage away from wild migrants. —Bygeoffrey Kamadi, science.org, 10 Sep. 2024 The bank holds a planting stockpile and protects precious plant genes from the vagaries of climate change and possible extinction. —Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2024 Meanwhile, construction machinery, precious metals, and oil & gas were among the worst-performing. —Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for precious 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'precious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Adverb
Middle English, from Anglo-French precios, from Latin pretiosus, from pretium price — more at price entry 1
First Known Use
Adjective
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adverb
1595, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of precious was in the 13th century
Dictionary Entries Near precious
Cite this Entry
“Precious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precious. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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Last Updated: 14 Sep 2024 - Updated example sentences
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