prized

1. 1
   adjective

   Greatly valued and cherished; treated as especially important or dear.

   The museum displays its prized collection of medieval coins.

   Among gardeners, that rare orchid is a prized rarity.

   Similartreasured, cherished, valued, precious, esteemed

   Oppositeworthless

   Note

   Built from the verb prize, "to esteem," and now used as an ordinary adjective. It compares with more and most, never with -er and -est, so a collector's most prized possession is never her prizeder one. It sits most naturally before a noun, as in a prized possession or a prized collection. After a noun it tends to read as the past form of prize: the coins were prized by collectors.

2. 2
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of prize.

   She prized her freedom more than any reward she was offered.

   The villagers prized the spring for its clean, reliable water.

   Note

   One spelling serves two different verbs. Most often it is the past of prize meaning "to esteem," as in she prized her freedom, which is the use behind the adjective for something cherished. But prize also means to force open with a lever, a variant of prise and pry, so he prized the lid off belongs to that verb instead. Two older uses, "to appraise" and "to fight in a prizefight," are obsolete.

   He prized the lid off the paint can with a screwdriver.

   The crate had been prized open during the night.

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