precious

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Of high cost or worth; valuable.
2. adj. Highly esteemed; cherished.
3. adj. Dear; beloved.
4. adj. Affectedly dainty or overrefined: precious mannerisms.
5. adj. Informal Thoroughgoing; unmitigated: a precious mess.
6. n. One who is dear or beloved; a darling.
7. adv. Used as an intensive: "He had precious little right to complain” ( James Agee).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Of great price; costly; having a high money-value.
2. Of great worth; held in high esteem; intrinsically valuable.
3. Worthless; good-for-nothing.
4. Considerable; great.
5. Particular; scrupulous; fastidious; over-nice.
6. Synonyms and Costly, etc. See valuable.
7. Very; exceedingly; extremely.
8. Affectedly fastidious, especially in the use of words; finically refined in one's literary style or artistic taste.
9. Characterized by a strained or affected refinement of style, in literature or art; affectedly fine.

Wiktionary

1. adj. of high value or worth, or seemingly regarded as such
2. adj. regarded with love or tenderness.
3. adj. treated with too much reverence.
4. adj. contrived to be cute or charming
5. n. someone (or something) who is loved; a darling
6. adv. used as an intensifier

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Of great price; costly.
2. adj. Of great value or worth; very valuable; highly esteemed; dear; beloved.
3. adj. Particular; fastidious; overnice; overrefined. Cf. Précieuse, Preciosity.

WordNet 3.0

1. adv. extremely.
2. adj. characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
3. adj. held in great esteem for admirable qualities especially of an intrinsic nature
4. adj. of high worth or cost
5. adj. obviously contrived to charm