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Preciously

   Also found in: Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
pre·cious  (prshs)
adj.
1. Of high cost or worth; valuable.
2. Highly esteemed; cherished.
3. Dear; beloved.
4. Affectedly dainty or overrefined: precious mannerisms.
5. Informal Thoroughgoing; unmitigated: a precious mess.
n.
One who is dear or beloved; a darling.
adv.
Used as an intensive: "He had precious little right to complain" James Agee.
[Middle English, from Old French precios, from Latin pretisus, from pretium, price; see per-5 in Indo-European roots.]
precious·ly adv.
precious·ness n.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Adv.1.preciously - extremely; "there is precious little time left"
precious
intensifier, intensive - a modifier that has little meaning except to intensify the meaning it modifies; "`up' in `finished up' is an intensifier"; "`honestly' in `I honestly don't know' is an intensifier"
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did that, sir,' said a great lubberly fellow, stepping forward; 'and preciously I cut my knuckle agin' his mouth.
Oliver Twist Or The Parish Boy's Progress by Dickens, Charles View in context
All resistance had been rendered impossible to him by what was then called, in the style of the criminal chancellery, "the vehemence and firmness of the bonds" which means that the thongs and chains probably cut into his flesh; moreover, it is a tradition of jail and wardens, which has not been lost, and which the handcuffs still preciously preserve among us, a civilized, gentle, humane people (the galleys and the guillotine in parentheses).
Notre-Dame de Paris by Hugo, Victor View in context
Here I started up for I could not contain myself at the thought that the minutes and seconds so preciously laden with Mina's life and happiness were flying from us, since whilst we talked action was impossible.
Dracula by Stoker, Bram View in context
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