precious little

precious little

1. adjective Not much; scant. (Used solely with uncountable nouns; "precious few" is used with plural countable nouns.) There's precious little evidence connecting him to the crime, but the prosecution is adamant that he's their man. We've had precious little information about the deal, so rumors are flying around the office at the moment.
2. noun A very small amount (of something). We still know precious little about who might be involved with the attack. There's been precious little in the way of details about the trade deal being struck between the two countries.
See also: little, precious
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

precious little

or

precious few

If you say that there is precious little of something, you mean that there is very little of it, and that it would be better if there were more. The banks have had precious little to celebrate recently. Note: Precious few is used before plural nouns with the same meaning. Precious few homebuyers will notice any reduction in their monthly repayments.
See also: little, precious
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

precious little (or few)

extremely little (or few).
See also: little, precious
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

precious ˈfew/ˈlittle

(informal) very few/little: There are precious few places round here where you can get good Indian food.
See also: few, little, precious
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • bulletproof
  • appropriate for
  • a little
  • as (something) as the next man/woman/person
  • as as the next man
  • as good, well, etc. as the next person
  • as the next person
  • back and forth
  • man to man
  • man-to-man
References in periodicals archive
* 27/06/18 * Welcome to the world our precious little Robbie Ray Black-Daley [yen]n[sup.1]A The amount of love and joy you have brought into our life is immeasurable, our precious little son [yen]n[sup.1]A
Dustin Lance Black and Tom Daley Welcome Their First Child
Your pay packet at the end of the week is also short as you do not get paid for simply not going to work, but heaven forbid that the schools would open and precious little Hugo or Jemima may slip and then daddy sues the school.
Frosty response to school closures
No, you need to take a day off which again affects others, your workmates who have managed to get to work will be short handed, and your pay packet at the end of the week is also short as you do not get paid for simply not going to work, but heaven forbid that the schools would open and precious little Hugo or Jemima may slip and then daddy sues the school.
Stop moaning, get on with it! Letters
"He was a very precious little boy and we miss him very much."
Family pay tribute to tragic Liam
The giant van der Voort has gone on to make finals and earn stacks of cash while van Gerwen, despite being hyped to the hilt, has done precious little.
Tabern value to win battle of lefties; DARTS: EURO CHAMP'SHIP
There is precious little respect from foreigners for the benefits and freedoms enjoyed in this country.
Fear for basic freedoms; LETTERS to the EDITOR
Football is our national sport and even then we have had precious little success since 1966.
STAR LETTER
This is a woman who has a husband and two young children, but can give them precious little time.
Letter: Gritty nurse
We have destroyed fisheries, we have mismanaged forestry policy, and we have precious little to show for the mineral wealth extracted from this country.
Stockholders are not the only stakeholders
Sadly there is precious little prestige for we British to remain proud of today.
Letter: YourSay - ToThePoint
And even since that period ended there's been subjugation by other means, leaving many Islamic countries precious little nourishment for their self-respect.
Islamophobia
"She was such a precious little girl," says Hardy-Garcia.
Victim of the system
The clock is running on Nineveh, and the people have precious little time to repent before the entire city will be destroyed.
Third Sunday after the Epiphany: January 22, 2006
For another, the President has said precious little on what he believes a "reformed" Tax Code should look like, and hence, little effort has been expended to mobilize key constituencies (such as particular industries) to embrace tax reform.
Tax reform, really?
So Hakim stood his ground, not budging on the new constitution, which gives the Shiites enormous power in the south, the Kurds enormous power in the north, and the Sunnis precious little.
Unmoored words