Priceless

How to spell priceless

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce priceless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does priceless mean?

1. adjectiveSo valuable that no price could measure its worth.
2. adjectiveExtremely amusing or absurd, often because of an unexpected reaction.

Priceless in a sentence

• The museum keeps its priceless manuscripts in a sealed vault.

• The look on his face when the cake collapsed was absolutely priceless.

• Her grandmother left her a priceless collection of antique jewellery.

• Her deadpan reply to the awkward question was priceless.

Where does priceless come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word joins the noun 'price' with the old English suffix '-less', which means 'without' or 'lacking'. 'Price' came into English in the 1200s through Old French 'pris' or 'prix', which traces back to the Latin 'pretium', meaning 'reward, value, or worth'. The same Latin root sits behind 'precious', 'appreciate', and even 'praise', all of which circle around the idea of setting a value on something. By literally meaning 'without a price', 'priceless' developed the paradoxical sense of being so valuable that no price could ever be set on it, a usage well established by the 1500s. Much later, in the 1900s, it picked up a playful, ironic sense to describe something hilariously absurd. The spelling trap is mild: keep the single 's' of 'price' and add '-less' (one 'l'), so it never doubles.

How the word is built

• price (value, cost; from Latin pretium 'reward, value')
• -less (without; native suffix meaning 'lacking')