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I ran across this phrase in a video made by an Australian walking the Camino de Santiago. He describes a horrible sleep-deprived night and suffering from food poisoning, and states that he's feeling a little precious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dqOI87nSU0 at 1:09:25. I assumed from the context it meant wasted or shaky. In this blog entry there's a similar use, I believe also from an Australian:

It was a good night as everyone celebrates throughout the city just as we do at home. Woke up the next day feeling a little precious and was having a coffee and looked at a stamp I had on my hand from a bar we went to.

But then, in this blog, which is also an Australian, it's used a bit differently:

Matt is feeling a little precious about a couple of scams he's fallen in to over the last couple of days. The first one was when he asked me the time one morning and I mistakenly read my watch as 6.30am - off he went running at 5.30am. He was a tad confused to get back at 6.20am. The second I will let him explain but when you read it bear in mind how many years he spent dealing with reps and suppliers getting the best possible price for shop stock. Right Matt here. Absolutely gutted yesterday got conned by a gypsy woman about 4 foot 6 and with only one tooth.

In that case, it seems to mean disappointed or embarrassed.

So, what's up with this?

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Not a word I've ever looked up, but I always take it to mean a combination of bruised/sore/inward looking/selfish. You've been injured in some way, physically or mentally, and you've retreated to 'lick your wounds'. You are feeling hyper-sensitive and guarding yourself against further hurt. This may just mean lying low for a while, but it could mean behaving selfishly, depending on the context.

There's also the usage where, for example a writer is precious about his or her work. This means, again, they are hyper-sensitive to criticism and disinclined to change anything despite good advice from editors etc.

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    I hadn't heard precious used this way. This is common in Australia, evidently. Also in the UK? Other variants of English as well?
    – Mike
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 13:42
  • @Mike I'm in the UK, I can only speak for here. Is it not used this way in the US then?
    – Mynamite
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 13:45
  • @Mike I'm guessing it comes from the author's work being precious to them, ie they hold it dear, but it has migrated to the author being called precious.
    – Mynamite
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 13:47
  • No, I've not heard or seen it used in this context in AmE. Occasionally it is used sarcastically to mean that someone perceives themselves to be special. It is often used to describe small children by motherly types. And it is used in religion frequently. The context of being valuable and worthy of being guarded morphs well into the concept of being fragile and needing protection, however, so I do not misunderstand it as used above for one's feeling after an overindulgent night or sensitive to criticism. Cool difference!
    – Mike
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 13:57
  • @Mike All those meanings seem closely bound up together. With the author example it's almost like they have decided they are precious to themselves, which might look odd to a 3rd party - hence it can be derogatory used in this way.
    – Mynamite
    Commented Apr 6, 2014 at 14:04
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It simply means feeling fragile or vulnerable, the way you do when you've over-indulged the night before.

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