precious

貴重な、価値のある

金銭的な価値が高い、または非常に役立ち重要である。

やさしい英語で： Worth a lot of money, or very useful and important.

• Gold is a precious metal.
• Do not waste precious water.
• The delay cost us precious time.

類義語： valuable

反対語： worthless

よく使う表現： precious metal, precious stones, precious time

大切な、愛しい

愛情や思い入れがあり、とても大切に感じる。

やさしい英語で： Very dear to someone because they love or care about it.

• That photo is precious to me.
• We shared some precious moments together.
• She kept every precious letter from her father.

使い方： precious to someone (These memories are precious to us.)

類義語： dear, cherished, beloved

よく使う表現： precious memories, precious moments, precious to someone

過保護な、神経質な

大切なものへの変更や批判を、必要以上に嫌がる。

やさしい英語で： Unwilling to let others change or criticize something you care about, often more than seems reasonable.

• He is precious about his recipes.
• Do not be too precious about your first draft.
• She became less precious about her work over time.

使い方： precious about something (The designer is very precious about her drawings.)

類義語： overprotective, possessive

よく使う表現： precious about something, too precious, rather precious

まったくの、とんだ

悪い評価を強め、まったくそうであることを表す。

やさしい英語で： Complete or total, used to give extra force to a negative description.

• You are a precious fool!
• That precious rascal has taken my hat again.
• What precious nonsense he talks!

類義語： complete, utter

よく使う表現： precious fool, precious rascal, precious nonsense

非常に、実に

程度を強める。少なさを表す語の前では、いかに少ないかを強調する。

やさしい英語で： Very; often used before words meaning a small amount to stress how little there is.

• We have precious little time.
• Precious few people knew the answer.
• There was precious little left to eat.

類義語： very, extremely

よく使う表現： precious little, precious few