Priceless Meaning
/ˈpɹaɪslɪs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjWithout a price assigned; unpriced.
adjSo precious as not to be obtainable or sold at any price.
Sentence Examples
The priceless china shattered into fragments.
This table is a priceless antique.
Giving birth to newborns is a priceless life gift.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The museum displayed a ____ painting by Da Vinci that was insured for millions of dollars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The museum housed a collection of ____ artifacts that could never be replaced if lost or damaged.
Word Origin & History
From price + -less (“lacking, without”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For he the night before in Tarquins Tent, / Vnlockt the treaſure of his happie ſtate: / VVhat priſeleſſe vvealth the heauens had him lent, / In the poſſeſſion of his beauteous mate."
— 1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC, signature B, verso:
"Shall giue Theodoret to vnderſtand, / His ignorance of the prizeleſſe Ievvell, vvhich / He did poſſeſſe in you, mother in you, […]"
— c. 1607–1621 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher; Philip Massinger], The Tragedy of Thierry King of France, and His Brother Theodoret. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1621, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, signatures C2, recto – C2, verso:
"Tutor of Athens! he, in every Street, / Dealt priceleſs Treaſure: Goodneſs his Delight, / VViſdom his VVealth, and Glory his Revvard."
— 1735, [James] Thomson, Greece: Being the Second Part of Liberty, a Poem, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, page 25, lines 231–233:
"Mario told me of a hotel in which he had been, where a chambermaid stole a priceless diamond ring from an American lady. […] The chambermaid had a lover in the bakery, and he had baked the ring into a roll, where it lay unsuspected until the search was over."
— 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XV, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC, page 112:
"DeepMind, the British company discussed in chapter 2, was sold to Google for £400 million in 2014 without even a golden share for government. It is now priceless, almost certainly not for sale at any price."
— 2020, Nick Timothy, chapter 5, in Remaking One Nation: The Future of Conservatism, Cambridge: Polity Press, →ISBN, page 120:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The museum displayed a ____ painting by Da Vinci that was insured for millions of dollars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The museum housed a collection of ____ artifacts that could never be replaced if lost or damaged.