ENGLISH
REFERENCE

invaluable

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˌɪnˈvæɫjəbəɫ// UK //ɪnvˈæljuːəbəl// in·valu·able Archaic

adj. extremely useful or important. It means something is so valuable that you cannot put a price on it.

adj. of extremely great worth or importance; indispensable. Often confused with 'valuable' (which implies a high monetary price), but 'invaluable' emphasizes that the item is priceless.


SIMPLE

Your help was invaluable to our success.

CONTEXTUAL

The old maps were invaluable for understanding how the city changed over the last century.

COMPLEX

While the painting was valuable in a financial sense, its historical significance made it truly invaluable to the museum's collection.

Synonyms
Origin

From in- + valuable (compare priceless).

Usage

Do not confuse with 'valuable'. 'Valuable' means worth a lot of money; 'invaluable' means too important to be measured by money.

Pitfall

an invaluable mistakea valuable mistake'Invaluable' means extremely useful, not 'not valuable'. Use 'worthless' or 'valueless' for things with no worth.

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