different between precious vs sweet

English

Alternative forms

• pretious (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English precious, borrowed from Old French precios (“valuable, costly, precious, beloved, also affected, finical”), from Latin preti?sus (“of great value, costly, dear, precious”), from pretium (“value, price”); see price.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p????s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

precious (comparative more precious, superlative most 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.

   a precious rascal

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• nonprecious
• precious metal
• precious stone
• preciously
• preciousness
• semiprecious

Related terms

Translations

Noun

precious (plural preciouses)

1. Someone (or something) who is loved; a darling.
   • 1937, 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

precious (not comparable)

1. Very; an intensifier.

   There is precious little we can do.

   precious few pictures of him exist

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”.

Translations

Further reading

• precious on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• precious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• precious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

English

Etymology

From Middle English sweete, swete, from Old English sw?te (“sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *sw?t?, from Proto-Germanic *sw?tuz (“sweet”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéh?dus (“sweet”).

Cognate and synonymous with Scots sweit, North Frisian sweete, West Frisian swiet, Low German sööt, Dutch zoet, German süß, Danish sød, Swedish söt, Norwegian søt, Latin su?vis, Sanskrit ?????? (sv?dú), Ancient Greek ???? (h?dús). Doublet of suave.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /swi?t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /swit/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /swi?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t
• Homophone: suite

Adjective

sweet (comparative sweeter, superlative sweetest)

1. Having a pleasant taste, especially one relating to the basic taste sensation induced by sugar.

2. Having a taste of sugar.
   • 2018 May 16, Adam Rogers, Wired, "The Fundamental Nihilism of Yanny vs. Laurel":

     A few types of molecules get sensed by receptors on the tongue. Protons coming off of acids ping receptors for "sour." Sugars get received as "sweet." Bitter, salty, and the proteinaceous flavor umami all set off their own neural cascades.

3. (wine) Retaining a portion of sugar.

4. Not having a salty taste.

5. Having a pleasant smell.
   • 1838, Longfellow, "Voices of the Night: The Reaper and the Flowers":

     The breath of these flowers is sweet to me.

6. Not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale.

7. Having a pleasant sound.
   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Scarlet Letter, Ticknor and Fields, page 135:

     a voice sweet, tremulous, but powerful

8. Having a pleasing disposition.

9. Having a helpful disposition.

10. (mineralogy) Free from excessive unwanted substances like acid or sulphur.

11. (informal) Very pleasing; agreeable.
    • 14 November 2014, Steven Haliday, Scotland 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Maloney the hero

      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.

12. (slang) Doing well; in a good or happy position.
13. (informal, followed by on) Romantically fixated, enamoured with, fond of

    The attraction was mutual and instant; they were sweet on one another from first sight.

14. (obsolete) Fresh; not salt or brackish.
    • 1627, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: or A Natural History, in The Works of Francis Bacon (1826), page 66

      The white of an egg, or blood mingled with salt water, doth gather the saltness and maketh the water sweeter; this may be by adhesion.
15. Pleasing to the eye; beautiful; mild and attractive; fair.
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise lost (source), Samuel Simmons, page 278:

      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
• (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale): 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
• ((informal) very pleasing): rad, awesome, wicked

Antonyms

• (having a pleasant taste): bitter, sour, salty
• (containing a sweetening ingredient): nonsweet, sugarless, unsugared, unsweetened, unsweet
• (of wines: retaining a portion of natural sugar): dry
• (not decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, or stale): decaying, fermented, rancid, sour, spoiled, stale
• (not having a salty taste): salty, savoury
• (free from excessive unwanted substances): sour
• ((informal) very pleasing): lame, uncool

Derived terms

Translations

See sweet/translations § Adjective.

Interjection

sweet

1. Used as a positive response to good news or information.

   They're making a sequel? Ah, sweet!

Adverb

sweet (comparative more sweet, superlative most sweet)

1. In a sweet manner.
   • 1598, Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost, Act 1 Scene 1:

     "and, sweet my child, let them be men of good repute and carriage."

     (and, my child, allow them sweetly to be men with good reputations and conduct)

Synonyms

• (in a sweet manner): sweetly

Translations

Noun

sweet (countable and uncountable, plural sweets)

1. (uncountable) The basic taste sensation induced by sugar.
2. (countable, Britain) A confection made from sugar, or high in sugar content; a candy.
3. (countable, Britain) A food eaten for dessert.

   Can we see the sweet menu, please?

4. Sweetheart; darling.

   • Wherefore frowns my sweet?

5. (obsolete) That which is sweet or pleasant in odour; a perfume.
6. (obsolete) Sweetness, delight; something pleasant to the mind or senses.
   • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:

     Fear's fire to fervency, which makes love's sweet prove nectar.

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

• spoon sweet
• sweet shop / sweetshop

Translations

Verb

sweet (third-person singular simple present sweets, present participle sweeting, simple past and past participle sweeted)

1. (obsolete or poetic) To sweeten.

Anagrams

• weest, weets

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sv???t/

Etymology 1

From Dutch zweet, from Middle Dutch sweet, from Old Dutch *sweit, *sw?t, from Proto-Germanic *swait-, from Proto-Indo-European *sweyd-.

Noun

sweet (uncountable)

1. sweat

Etymology 2

From Dutch zweten, from Middle Dutch swêten.

Verb

sweet (present sweet, present participle swetende, past participle gesweet)

1. to sweat

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *sw?t, from Proto-Germanic *swait-.

Noun

swêet n

1. sweat, perspiration

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

• sweit

Derived terms

• swêten

Descendants

• Dutch: zweet
• Limburgish: zweit

Further reading

• “sweet”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “sweet”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN