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Precious vs Sweet - What's the difference?

precious | sweet | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between precious and sweet

is that precious is of high value or worth, or seemingly regarded as such while sweet is having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

As nouns the difference between precious and sweet

is that precious is someone (or something) who is loved; a darling while sweet is the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

As adverbs the difference between precious and sweet

is that precious is Used as an intensifier.sweet is in a sweet manner.

As proper nouns the difference between precious and sweet

is that precious is {{surname|from=nicknames|lang=en}}, originating as a male or female nickname while Sweet is {{surname|lang=en}.

precious

English

Alternative forms

* pretious (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of high value or worth, or seemingly regarded as such.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author=(Polly Toynbee)
  • , volume=189, issue=10, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Britain's booming birthrate , passage=People are a good thing, the most precious resource in a rich economy, so the progressive-minded feel. Only misanthropists disagree or the dottier Malthusians who send green-ink tweets deploring any state assistance for child-rearing.}}
  • Regarded with love or tenderness.
  • (pejorative) Treated with too much reverence.
  • (pejorative) Contrived to be cute or charming.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 24, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club
  • , title= Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3 , passage=In the abstract, Stuhlbarg’s twinkly-eyed sidekick suggests Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2 by way of late-period Robin Williams with an alien twist, but Stuhlbarg makes a character that easily could have come across as precious into a surprisingly palatable, even charming man.}}

    Synonyms

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

    Noun

    (es)
  • Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
  • * J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
  • “It isn't fair, my precious , is it, to ask us what it's got in its nassty little pocketses?”
  • * 1909 , Mrs. Teignmouth Shore, The Pride of the Graftons (page 57)
  • She sat down with the dogs in her lap. "I won't neglect you for any one, will I, my preciouses ?"

    Adverb

    (-)
  • There is precious little we can do.

    sweet

    English

    (wikipedia sweet)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
  • a sweet apple
  • Having a taste of sugar.
  • Containing a sweetening ingredient.
  • (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.
  • Sweet wines are better dessert wines.
  • Not having a salty taste.
  • sweet butter
  • * 1821 , Robert Thomas, The modern practice of physic
  • Nothing has been found so effectual for preserving water sweet at sea, during long voyages, as charring the insides of the casks well before they are filled.
  • Having a pleasant smell.
  • a sweet scent
  • * Longfellow
  • The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.
  • Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.
  • sweet milk
  • Having a pleasant sound.
  • a sweet tune
  • * Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • a voice sweet , tremulous, but powerful
  • Having a pleasing disposition.
  • a sweet child
  • Having a helpful disposition.
  • It was sweet of him to help out.
  • (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.
  • sweet soil
    sweet crude oil
  • (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
  • The new Lexus was a sweet birthday gift.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2014
  • , date=November 14 , author=Stephen Halliday , title=Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero , work=The Scotsman citation , page= , passage=GORDON Strachan enjoyed the sweetest of his 16 matches in charge of Scotland so far as his team enhanced their prospects of Euro 2016 qualification with a crucial and deserved victory over Republic of Ireland.}}
  • (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamored (followed by with), fond (followed by of).
  • The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.
  • (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.
  • sweet water
    (Francis Bacon)
  • Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
  • a sweet''' face; a '''sweet colour or complexion
  • * Milton
  • Sweet interchange / Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains.

    Synonyms

    * (having a taste of sugar) saccharine, sugary * (containing a sweetening ingredient) sugared, sweetened * (not having a salty taste) fresh, unsalty * (having a pleasant smell) fragrant, odoriferous, odorous, perfumed, scented, sweet-scented, sweet-smelling * fresh, unfermented, wholesome * (having a pleasant sound) dulcet, honeyed, mellifluous, mellisonant * (having a pleasing disposition) cute, lovable, pleasant * (having a helpful disposition) kind, gracious, helpful, sensitive, thoughtful * rad, awesome, wicked

    Antonyms

    * (having a pleasant taste) bitter, sour, salty * (containing a sweetening ingredient) nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet * dry * decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale * (not having a salty taste) salty, savoury * (free from excessive unwanted substances) sour * lame, uncool

    Derived terms

    * bittersweet * boiled sweet * flower-sweet * honey-sweet * meadowsweet * semisweet * short and sweet * sickeningly sweet * sickly sweet/sickly-sweet * sugar-sweet * sweet action * (sweet alison) * (sweet almond) * (sweet alyssum) * sweet and sour * sweet as * sweet as a nut * sweet as pie * sweet ball * (sweet balm) * sweet basil * sweet bay * (sweet bells) * sweet birch * sweet bread * sweetbread * sweet-breasted * (sweetbriar) * (sweet calabash) * (sweet cassava) * sweet cheeks * sweet cherry * sweet chocolate * (sweet cicely) * sweet cider * (sweet clover) * (sweet coltsfoot) * sweet corn/sweet-corn/sweetcorn * sweet cream * sweet cup * sweet dreams * (sweet elder) * sweeten * sweetener * sweet FA * (sweet fern) * sweet flag * (vern, sweet four o'clock) * sweet gale * (sweet goldenrod) * sweet grass * sweet gum tree * sweet hereafter * sweet iron * sweetish * sweetkin * sweet leaf * sweet lemon * (sweet lime) * sweetly * (sweet marjoram) * sweet Mary * sweetmeat * (sweet melon) * sweetness * sweet nothings * sweet oil * sweet on * sweet orange * sweet pea * sweet pepper * sweet pickle * sweet potato * (sweet rocket) * sweet roll * sweetroot * sweets * sweet scabious * sweet science * (sweet shrub) * sweet sixteen * Sweet Sixteen * sweet-smelling * sweet-sop * (sweet sorghum) * sweet spot * (sweet sultan) * sweet-talk * sweet talker * sweet tooth * (sweet unicorn plant) * sweet vermouth * (sweet vetch) * (sweet violet) * sweet water * (sweet wattle) * sweet william/Sweet William * sweet woodruff * sweety * sweet young thing * unsweet * (winter sweet)

    Usage notes

    * Also used as a positive response to good news or information: They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet !

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a sweet manner.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Synonyms

    * (in a sweet manner) sweetly

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
  • (countable, British) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
  • (countable, British) A food eaten for dessert.
  • Can we see the sweet menu, please?
  • sweetheart; darling
  • * Ben Jonson
  • Wherefore frowns my sweet ?
  • (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
  • * Milton
  • a wilderness of sweets
  • (obsolete) That which is pleasing or welcome to the mind.
  • the sweets of domestic life

    Synonyms

    * (sweet taste sensation) See sweetness * (food that is high in sugar content) bonbon, candy (US), confection, confectionery, lolly (Australia) * (food eaten for dessert) See dessert

    Derived terms

    * sweet shop * sweetshop

    Statistics

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