But Mr Console-Verma's barrister Michael King described the Howds as "overly precious" and accused Dr Howd of "freely alleging fraud whenever anyone disagrees with you".

Its self-consciousness can feel, on occasion, overly precious and insidery.

There are some problems with the production: the post-modern gimcrackery of the prologue is both too busy and too coy in tone for the fervent sincerity of most of the opera; the production's manners at times become overly precious.

But there is every reason to believe that the film's subjects - an elderly twosome named Lucille and Irja - would find the word gem overly precious, perhaps insulting.

But the food itself could be sublime, an honest and earnest attempt to showcase the elegant dimensions of Italian cuisine without being overly precious.

It's a great theme, but the installation's overly precious formality does it less justice than it deserves.

At other times Ms. Smith's self-consciously mannered Gothic-Surrealist tableaus feel overly precious and pretentious.

French Quarter hotels can be overly precious - not so with this large, rambling 19th-century house, which has friendly owners and an easygoing atmosphere.

The conjunction of metaphysical obscurity and utilitarian transparency is rich, but the installation's overly precious formality does the symbolism less justice than it deserves (Johnson).