preciously
1
9.9
- adverb
- /ˈprɛʃəsli/
- Archaic
:
preciadamente
- But the secret the lady is preciously guarding is far too shocking and dangerous to ever reveal...
- preciously guards
Examples
-
For the daughter who does not enjoy it, every word is scraped preciously and piled up as work done with much effort.
Blog text (14) -
The time 'twixt six and now must by us both be spent most preciously.
-
Keep the ring, but guard it preciously.
-
Sometimes in these little salons, one finds pieces that the artist has kept preciously in the corner of the studio.
Academic text (1991) -
She treasured that old photograph preciously, often taking it out to admire its details.
-
During the meeting, they discussed their preciously limited time to make a decision.
-
The painter valued her collection of brushes preciously, believing each one added unique character to her art.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To a large degree
26
4.5
Only a very small amount remains
12
6.0
To emphasize something, like saying very
There is very little, almost none
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word preciously comes from precious, which is related to the common word price and originally meant 'valuable' or 'worth a lot'. People began using precious to show something was so rare or small it seemed 'valuable', so phrases like 'precious little' mean 'very little'. That's why preciously can be used to emphasize a very small amount.