Precious

1. Of high value or worth.
2. Regarded with love or tenderness.
3. (derogatory) Treated with too much reverence.
4. (derogatory) Contrived to be cute or charming.
5. (colloquial) Thorough; utter.

Synonyms

• (of high value): dear, valuable
• (contrived to charm): saccharine, syrupy, twee

Adverb

1. Very; an intensifier.

Usage notes

This adverb is chiefly used before few and little; usage with other adjectives (slight, small, scant) is much more sporadic, and is in any case limited to the semantic field of “little, small, scarce, few”.