precious

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).

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[Middle English, from Old French precios, from Latin pretisus, from pretium, price; see per-⁵ in Indo-European roots.]

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precious·ly adv.

precious·ness n.

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precious [ˈprɛʃəs]

adj

1. beloved; dear; cherished

2. very costly or valuable

3. held in high esteem, esp in moral or spiritual matters

4. very fastidious or affected, as in speech, manners, etc.

5. Informal worthless you and your precious ideas!

adv

Informal (intensifier) there's precious little left

[from Old French precios, from Latin pretiōsus valuable, from pretium price, value]

preciously  adv

preciousness  n

Thesaurus

Adj.	1.	precious - characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for; "a cherished friend"; "children are precious"; "a treasured heirloom"; "so good to feel wanted" cherished, treasured, wanted loved - held dear; "his loved companion of many years"
	2.	precious - of high worth or cost; "diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are precious stones" valuable - having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange; "a valuable diamond"
	3.	precious - held in great esteem for admirable qualities especially of an intrinsic nature; "a valued friend"; "precious memories" valued worthy - having worth or merit or value; being honorable or admirable; "a worthy fellow"; "a worthy cause"
	4.	precious - obviously contrived to charm; "an insufferably precious performance"; "a child with intolerably cute mannerisms" cute artful - marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft; "the artful dodger"; "an artful choice of metaphors"
Adv.	1.	precious - extremely; "there is precious little time left" preciously 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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precious

adjective

1. valuable, expensive, rare, fine, choice, prized, dear, costly, high-priced, exquisite, invaluable, priceless, recherché, inestimable jewellery and precious objects belonging to her mother
valuable cheap, worthless, rubbishy, trashy, a dime a dozen, nickel-and-dime (U.S. slang), paltry, two a penny (informal), valueless

2. loved, valued, favourite, prized, dear, dearest, treasured, darling, beloved, adored, cherished, fave (informal), idolized, worth your or its weight in gold her most precious possession

3. affected, artificial, fastidious, twee (Brit. informal), chichi, overrefined, overnice Actors, he decided, were all precious and neurotic.

Translations

precious [ˈpreʃəs]

A. ADJ

1. (= costly) [jewel, stone] → precioso; [commodity, resource] → preciado; [possession] → muy valioso
we're wasting precious time → estamos desperdiciando un tiempo precioso

2. (= treasured) → preciado
she savoured the precious moments they spent together → saboreó esos momentos preciados que pasaron juntos
her friendship is very precious to me → aprecio or valoro mucho su amistad
the book is very precious to me → para mí el libro tiene gran valor

3. (= artificial, affected) [person] → preciosista, afectado; [style] → rebuscado

4. (iro) I couldn't care less about your precious golf clubs → me traen sin cuidado tus queridos palos de golf(iro)

B. ADV precious little/few → bien poco/pocos
precious little has been gained → se ha logrado muy poco

C. N (my) precious! (o.f.) → ¡querida!

D. CPD precious metal N → metal m precioso
precious stone N → piedra f preciosa

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precious [ˈprɛʃəs]

adj

(= valuable) [resource, object, jewels] → précieux/euse

[friend, gift, possession, moment] → précieux/euse
precious time → un temps précieux
This wastes precious time → Cela fait perdre un temps précieux.
time is precious → le temps est précieux
to be precious to sb → être précieux à qn
To me our friendship is a very precious thing → Notre amitié m'est très précieuse.
My life is more precious to me than my property → Ma vie m'est plus précieuse que mes biens.

(humorous) → précieux/euse often before n
your precious dog → ton précieux chien

(= affected) → précieux/euse

adv
precious few → fort peu
to have precious few ... → n'avoir que fort peu de ...
We've had precious few days off over the last six months → Nous n'avons eu que fort peu de jours de congé ces six derniers mois.
precious little → fort peu
There was precious little evidence → Il n'y avait que fort peu d'indices.
precious metal n → métal m précieux
precious stone n → pierre f précieuse

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precious

adj

(= costly) → wertvoll, kostbar

(= rare) commodity → kostbar, wertvoll

(= treasured) → wertvoll; (iro) → hochverehrt, heiß geliebt; my precious (one)! → mein Schatz!; I have very precious memories of that time/of him → ich habe Erinnerungen an diese Zeit/an ihn, die mir sehr wertvoll or teuer (geh) → sind; the loss of our precious daughter → der Verlust unserer heiß geliebten Tochter

(pej: = mannered, affected) language, humour etc → pretiös, preziös; person → geziert, geschraubt; style → geziert, gekünstelt

adv (inf) precious little/few → herzlich wenig/wenige (inf); precious little else → herzlich wenig sonst; I had precious little choice → ich hatte keine große Wahl

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precious [ˈprɛʃəs]

1. adj → prezioso/a
your precious dog (iro) → il tuo amatissimo cane

2. adv (fam) precious little/few → ben poco/pochi

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precious [ˈprɛʃəs]

1. adj → prezioso/a
your precious dog (iro) → il tuo amatissimo cane

2. adv (fam) precious little/few → ben poco/pochi

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precious

adj precious [ˈpreʃəs]

of great value precious jewels. waardevol ثَمين скъпоценен drahocenný kostbar kostbar πολύτιμος precioso väärtuslik گرانبها arvokas précieux יָקָר मूल्यवान dragocjen értékes tak ternilai, sangat berharga dÿrmætur prezioso 高価な 귀중한 brangus dārgs; vērtīgs sangat berharga kostbaar kostbar, verdifull; elsket (drogo)cenny precioso preţios драгоценный drahocenný dragocen dragocen dyrbar, värdefull ล้ำค่า çok değerli 寶貴的 дорогоцінний, коштовний قيمتي quý giá 宝贵的

precious metal

a valuable metal such as gold, silver or platinum. edelmetaal مَعْدَن ثمين ценен метал drahý kov ædelmetal das Edelmetall πολύτιμο μέταλλο metal precioso väärismetall فلزات قیمتی jalometalli métal précieux מַתֶכֶת יְקָרָה बहुमूल्य धातु plemenite kovine nemesfém logam mulia dÿrmætur metallo prezioso 貴金属 귀금속 brangusis metalas dārgmetāls logam berharga edel metaal edelt metall metal szlachetny metal precioso metal preţios благородный металл drahý kov plemenita kovina plemeniti metal ädelmetall โลหะมีค่า değerli maden 貴金屬 благородний метал قيمتي دھات kim loại quý 贵金属

precious stone

a jewel; a gem diamonds, emeralds and other precious stones. edelsteen حِجار كَريمَه скъпоценен камък drahokam ædelsten der Edelstein πολύτιμος λίθος, πετράδι piedra preciosa vääriskivi سنگ قیمتی jalokivi pierre précieuse אֶבֶן יְקָרה बहुमूल्य पत्थर dragi kamen drágakő batu mulia gimsteinn pietra preziosa 宝石 보석 brangakmenis dārgakmens batu permata edelsteen edelstein kamień szlachetny pedra preciosa piatră preţioasă драгоценный камень drahokam drag kamen drago kamenje ädelsten เพชรพลอย değerli taş 寶石 коштовний камінь قيمتي پتھر đá quý 宝石

precious few/little

very few/little I've precious little money left. bitter min قَليل много малко strašně málo næsten ingen äußerst wenig ελάχιστος muy poco ülivähe بسیار کم hyvin vähän bien/fort peu (de) קוֹמֶץ थोड़े से अनमोल या बहुमूल्य vrlo malo édeskevés sedikit sára fáir, afar lítill pochissimo ほんの少し 아주 적은 labai nedaug ļoti maz; ārkārtīgi nedaudz sgt sedikit bar weinig svært få/lite bardzo niewiele muito pouco foarte puţin очень мало strašne málo / veľa vražje malo veoma malo fasligt få/lite น้อยมาก çok az 極少 дуже мало بہت تھوڑا cực kỳ 极少

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precious → نفيس cenný dyrebar kostbar πολύτιμος precioso arvokas précieux dragocjen prezioso 貴重な 소중한 kostbaar verdifull cenny precioso драгоценный dyrbar ล้ำค่า değerli quý 宝贵的