1
: of great value or high price
precious jewels
2
: highly esteemed or cherished
a precious friend
precious memories
had a precious few hours together
3
: excessively refined : affected entry 2
precious manners
4
: great, thoroughgoing
a precious scoundrel
preciousness
noun
Examples of precious in a Sentence
Adjective
That so many of China's cleverest and most creative men and women had to sell their books and their most precious carvings and family seals to keep themselves alive, while corpulent nationalists and their friends dined well in local banquet halls, gave them some right to schadenfreude.
—
Simon Winchester, The Man Who Loved China, 2008
Of course, the war pronounces on us all. Some precious glee we seek is absent, the season less substantial, less likeable.
—Richard Ford, Wall Street Journal, 14-15 June 2008
The world is, as usual, a frightening place to enter for all save the precious few impaired by inherited security.
—David Mamet, True and False, 1997
… and, though to him those precious moments at the end of each day had symbolized the realization of his every hope, to her they had meant not a goddamn thing.
—Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
diamonds and other precious stones
We can save precious time by taking this shortcut.
They were able to be together for only a few precious hours.
the family's most precious moments
Adverb
She had precious little to say.
There are precious few hours of sunlight left.
Simon Winchester, The Man Who Loved China, 2008
Of course, the war pronounces on us all. Some precious glee we seek is absent, the season less substantial, less likeable.
—Richard Ford, Wall Street Journal, 14-15 June 2008
The world is, as usual, a frightening place to enter for all save the precious few impaired by inherited security.
—David Mamet, True and False, 1997
… and, though to him those precious moments at the end of each day had symbolized the realization of his every hope, to her they had meant not a goddamn thing.
—Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
diamonds and other precious stones
We can save precious time by taking this shortcut.
They were able to be together for only a few precious hours.
the family's most precious moments
Adverb
She had precious little to say.
There are precious few hours of sunlight left.
Recent Examples on the Web
Jennifer Cannon, Vanity Fair, 7 Apr. 2026
This is not to say that the artist herself, and her band, were as quiet as church mice, or that there was anything unduly precious about the performance.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2026
However, this new revenue stream is representative of the compute advantages Alphabet has over its peers, and compute is the most precious commodity in the AI race.
—Jeff Marks, CNBC, 6 Apr. 2026
Start adding gold and other precious metals to your portfolio today.
—Aly J Yale, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for precious
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Adjective
The robbery would later be connected to a smaller cache of precious gems that had gone missing the previous month from the Beverly Hills home of real estate developer Paul Trousdale, a close friend of the Kirkebys—making these twin burglaries among the largest heists in Los Angeles history.
—Jennifer Cannon, Vanity Fair, 7 Apr. 2026
This is not to say that the artist herself, and her band, were as quiet as church mice, or that there was anything unduly precious about the performance.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2026
However, this new revenue stream is representative of the compute advantages Alphabet has over its peers, and compute is the most precious commodity in the AI race.
—Jeff Marks, CNBC, 6 Apr. 2026
Start adding gold and other precious metals to your portfolio today.
—Aly J Yale, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for precious
Cite this Entry
“Precious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precious. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
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