Prized For: Standard Pattern
Prized For: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than turning one attested complement into a universal prohibition.
Use “prized for” when stating the quality, use, or feature because of which something is valued highly.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Form / construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| thing valued highly because of a quality/use/feature | be prized for + reason/quality | Use “for” to introduce why it is valued. |
| thing or person simply valued highly | prized, without a for-complement | The reason may be left implicit. |
| different sense of prize as a verb | use the construction required by that sense | Do not universalize the “prized for” pattern. |
Quick tests
Meaning / construction test
Are you explicitly naming the quality, use, or feature because of which something is valued highly?
If yes: Use “be prized for.”
If no: If the reason is implicit, “prized” can stand without a “for” complement.
Examples
The wood is prized for its durability.
“For” introduces the quality that makes the wood highly valued.
The region is prized for its quiet beaches.
The valued feature follows “for.”
The collection includes several highly prized objects.
The reason can remain implicit when context does not require it.
Further guidance
Construction
Use “prized for” when stating the quality, use, or feature because of which something is valued highly.
Style Boundary
This page covers the documented value sense of “prize”; the separate verb meaning to force or lever something open is outside this construction.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Prize — Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · Direct dictionary syntax evidence for “prize something for something” and passive “prized for”