precious

CEFRB1

/ˈpɹɛʃ.əs/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Very valuable, important, or loved.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Regarded with love or tenderness.

Examples

  • Gold is more precious than any other metal.

  • Your friendship is most precious to me.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈpʰɹʷɛʃ.əs] ~ [ˈpʰɹʷɛʃ.s̩]

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Treated with too much reverence.

  2. Of high value or worth.

  3. Excessively complicated.

More examples

In context

  • Gold is more precious than iron.

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

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

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The diamond ring was very blank to her because it was a gift from her grandmother.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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.