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PRECIOUS
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Obviously contrived to charm
Example:
a child with intolerably cute mannerisms
Synonyms:
cute; precious
Classified under:
Similar:
artful (marked by skill in achieving a desired end especially with cunning or craft)
Derivation:
preciosity; preciousness (the quality of being fastidious or excessively refined)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
Example:
so good to feel wanted
Synonyms:
cherished; precious; treasured; wanted
Classified under:
Similar:
loved (held dear)
Derivation:
preciousness (the positive quality of being precious and beyond value)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of high worth or cost
Example:
diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds are precious stones
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
valuable (having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange)
Derivation:
preciousness (the quality possessed by something with a great price or value)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Held in great esteem for admirable qualities especially of an intrinsic nature
Example:
precious memories
Synonyms:
precious; valued
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
worthy (having worth or merit or value; being honorable or admirable)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Extremely
Example:
there is precious little time left
Synonyms:
precious; preciously
Classified under:
Domain usage:
intensifier; intensive (a modifier that has little meaning except to intensify the meaning it modifies)
Context examples:
A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it were putty. It’s more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He held on as if he were a precious thing, a treasure beyond diamonds or rubies.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Some one, then, was in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It had robbed him of precious moments of living.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
It seemed too precious an offering for any degree of publicity.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
When Mansfield was considered, time was precious; and the state of his own mind made him find relief only in motion.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
But Marianne seemed hardly to hear her, and on Mrs. Jennings's entrance, escaped with the precious card.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The curricle with its tandem mares was waiting for us outside the cottage, and Ambrose had placed the refection-basket, the lap-dog, and the precious toilet-box inside of it.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“He was able to fix up his own little hiding-place without any confederate—save, of course, that precious housekeeper of his, whom I should lose no time in adding to your bag, Lestrade.”
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
