So valuable, loved, or useful that a monetary price cannot express its worth.
Reach for it when giving emphatic praise to something irreplaceable or beyond ordinary valuation
The interviews became a priceless record of crafts no longer practiced locally.
| warm | |
|---|---|
| professional | |
| formal | |
| literary |
warm
Fits when affection and desire to protect are central
Careful Precious can sound sentimental and does not necessarily mean beyond price.
warm
Fits when someone actively values and keeps the object
Careful It fits possessions and memories better than advice, access, or evidence.
professional
Fits when something is essential to success or functioning
Careful Something essential is not automatically beyond monetary valuation.
professional
Fits when usefulness or contribution is exceptionally great
Careful Invaluable often praises utility rather than emotional or cultural worth.
formal
incalculable
Fits when the scale of value cannot be computed
Careful It also describes damage or cost and needs a named positive value.
formal
Fits when no adequate substitute exists
Careful Something irreplaceable may have little value beyond one practical dependency.
literary
beyond value
Fits when elevated language should reject monetary comparison
Careful The phrase is abstract and can sound inflated without explanation.
priceless artifact
The priceless artifact remained in climate-controlled storage during the move.
priceless advice
Her priceless advice prevented the team from repeating a dangerous test.
truly priceless
The only recording of his grandmother's voice was truly priceless to him.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Updated
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