- rare and worth a lot of money
- a precious vase
- The crown was set with precious jewels—diamonds, rubies and emeralds.
- precious metals
Synonyms valuablevaluableprecious ▪ priceless ▪ irreplaceableThese words all describe something that is worth a lot of money or very important to somebody.valuable worth a lot of money:- The thieves took three pieces of valuable jewellery.
- a precious Chinese vase, valued at half a million pounds
- precious memories of our time together
- a priceless collection of antiques
- valuable/precious/priceless/irreplaceable possessions
- valuable/precious/priceless antiques/jewels/jewellery
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- become
- seem
- …
- extremely
- very
- incredibly
- …
- to
Definitions on the go
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- valuable or important and not to be wasted
- Clean water is a precious commodity in that part of the world.
- You're wasting precious time!
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- become
- seem
- …
- extremely
- very
- incredibly
- …
- to
- loved or valued very much synonym treasured
- precious memories/possessions
- precious to somebody You are infinitely precious to me.
Extra Examples- My family is the most precious thing I have in my life.
- They managed to salvage a few precious possessions from the fire.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- become
- seem
- …
- extremely
- very
- incredibly
- …
- to
- [only before noun] (informal) used to show you are angry that another person thinks something is very important
- I didn't touch your precious car!
- (disapproving) (especially of people and their behaviour) very formal, exaggerated and not natural in what you say and do synonym affected
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French precios, from Latin pretiosus ‘of great value’, from pretium ‘price’.
Check pronunciation:
precious