valuable

adjective valu·able \ ˈval-yə-bəl , -yə-wə-bəl , -yü-ə- \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Examples: valuable in a Sentence

Editor's Note: invaluable = valuable?

Definition of valuable

1 a : having monetary value

b : worth a good price

2 a : having desirable or esteemed characteristics or qualities

valuable friendships

b : of great use or service

valuable advice

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valuableness

noun

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valuably

play \ˈval-yə-blē, -yə-wə-blē, -yü-ə-\ adverb

See valuable defined for English-language learners

See valuable defined for kids

Examples of valuable in a Sentence

The watch is extremely valuable.
A lot of valuable advice can be found in this book.
I learned a valuable lesson.
He made many valuable contributions to the field of science.
The volunteers provide a valuable service to the community.
She is a valuable member of the staff.
Clean air is a valuable natural resource that needs to be protected.
Please don't waste my time. My time is very valuable.

Recent Examples of valuable from the Web

Players like Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker would likely be considered too valuable to only move up a few spots and not good enough to convince a team out of using a high pick.

— matt velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Besides pick, Bucks face other decisions on draft night," 18 June 2018
In the modern economy of tablets and apps, our attention has become the most valuable commodity.

— author: william wan, Anchorage Daily News, "Rebel developers are trying to cure our smartphone addiction – with an app," 18 June 2018
Activists say antiquities theft is rife in Syria, and some even cast doubt over whether the missing items, including the valuable torahs, were even original works.

— bassem mroue, Fox News, "Jewish artifacts disappear from Damascus in fog of Syria war," 17 June 2018
In the modern economy of tablets and apps, our attention has become the most valuable commodity.

— william wan, Houston Chronicle, "Rebel developers are trying to cure our smartphone addiction - with an app," 17 June 2018
Phoenix would risk trading its most valuable asset for a player who might not be around for more than one year.

— scott bordow, azcentral, "Suns will not trade No. 1 pick for Kawhi Leonard," 16 June 2018
Veteran Colin Jones has been a valuable backup who remains one of the fastest players on the team.

— joseph person, charlotteobserver, "Minicamp is over, but 4 big Panthers position battles must be settled in Spartanburg," 15 June 2018
Rising ocean acidity has already bleached Florida’s coral reefs and killed valuable oysters in the Pacific Northwest.

— eric niiler, National Geographic, "The Ocean Is Getting More Acidic—What That Actually Means," 15 June 2018
Drawing on her own experiences in the working world, Mika Brzezinski has turned these experiences into valuable tools and resources to help women assess and recognize their own worth along with the inspiration necessary to advocate for themselves.

— NBC News, "Register today for our San Francisco Know Your Value full-day event!," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'valuable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

invaluable = valuable?

Many people find it confusing that the in- prefix at the beginning of invaluable apparently lacks the meaning "not" found in a number of other words, such as invalid, inarticulate, and insane. In fact, the prefix does indicate negation, but in a way that is not immediately obvious. The original (and current) meaning of invaluable is "valuable beyond estimation"; the word describes something so precious that one cannot assign a price to it. This, clearly, is the opposite of the meaning "having no value; valueless" that the word might seem to carry. Invaluable actually has been recorded in the sense "without value," but such use has been exceedingly rare and is practically nonexistent today.