pay through the nose

Cultural  

1. To pay unreasonably high prices: “If you visit any major city these days, you had better be prepared to pay through the nose for a hotel room.”

---

pay through the nose Idioms  

1. Pay an excessive amount for something, as in We paid through the nose for that vacation. The origin of this term has been lost. Possibly it alludes to the Danish nose tax, imposed in Ireland in the 9th century, whereby delinquent taxpayers were punished by having their noses slit. [Second half of 1600s]

---

Example Sentences

In other words, clients will manage their own portfolios rather than pay through the nose for fees.

From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026

We have one daughter and pay through the nose for private childcare.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2023

“I had no choice but to pay through the nose for cabbages,” said 56-year-old Sung Ok-Koung, a homemaker in Seoul, for whom making kimchi is an important family activity.

From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2022

Mr Locke's crisp business had to pay through the nose because otherwise he would have run out of crisps, which makes up more than two thirds of his sales.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2022

"By gad, I'll have my lawyers on to her for this! I'll make her pay through the nose!"

From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

Related Words

• confiscate
• levy
• punish