preciously

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
precious/ˈpreʃəs/

▶adjective

• 1 having great value.

• 2 greatly loved or treasured by someone.

• 3 chieflyinformal, considerable: a precious lot you know!

• 4 derogatory affectedly concerned with elegant or refined language or manners.

▶noun a term of address to a beloved person.

– phrases
precious little (or few) informal extremely little (or few).

– derivatives
preciously adverb,
preciousness noun.

– origin ME: from OFr. precios, from L. pretiosus ‘of great value’, from pretium ‘price’.