cheap

[ cheep ]
See synonyms for: cheapcheapercheapestcheaply on Thesaurus.com

adjective,cheap·er, cheap·est.
  1. costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive: a cheap dress.

  2. costing little labor or trouble: Words are cheap.

  1. charging low prices: a very cheap store.

  2. of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy: cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.

  3. embarrassed; sheepish: He felt cheap about his mistake.

  4. obtainable at a low rate of interest: when money is cheap.

  5. of decreased value or purchasing power, as currency depreciated due to inflation.

  6. stingy; miserly: He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.

adverb
  1. at a low price; at small cost: He is willing to sell cheap.

Idioms about cheap

  1. cheap at twice the price, exceedingly inexpensive: I found this old chair for eight dollars—it would be cheap at twice the price.

  2. on the cheap, Informal. inexpensively; economically: She enjoys traveling on the cheap.

Origin of cheap

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English cheep (short for phrases such as good cheep “cheap,” literally, “good bargain”), Old English cēap “bargain, market, trade”; cognate with German Kauf, Old Norse kaup; all from Latin caupō “innkeeper, tradesman”; see chapman

synonym study For cheap

1, 4. Cheap, inexpensive agree in their suggestion of low cost. Cheap now usually suggests shoddiness, inferiority, showy imitation, complete unworthiness, and the like: a cheap kind of fur. Inexpensive emphasizes lowness of price (although more expensive than cheap ) and suggests that the value is fully equal to the cost: an inexpensive dress. It is often used as an evasion for the more specific cheap.

Other words for cheap

Opposites for cheap

Other words from cheap

  • cheapish, adjective
  • cheap·ish·ly, adverb
  • cheaply, adverb
  • cheapness, noun
  • o·ver·cheap, adjective
  • o·ver·cheap·ly, adverb
  • o·ver·cheap·ness, noun
  • un·cheap·ly, adverb

Words Nearby cheap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cheap in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cheap

cheap

/ (tʃiːp) /


adjective
  1. costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value

  2. charging low prices: a cheap hairdresser

  1. of poor quality; shoddy: cheap furniture; cheap and nasty

  2. worth relatively little: promises are cheap

  3. not worthy of respect; vulgar

  4. ashamed; embarrassed: to feel cheap

  5. stingy; miserly

  6. informal mean; despicable: a cheap liar

  7. cheap as chips See chip (def. 11)

  8. dirt cheap informal extremely inexpensive

noun
  1. on the cheap British informal at a low cost

adverb
  1. at very little cost

Origin of cheap

1
Old English ceap barter, bargain, price, property; related to Old Norse kaup bargain, Old High German kouf trade, Latin caupō innkeeper

Derived forms of cheap

  • cheapish, adjective
  • cheaply, adverb
  • cheapness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with cheap

cheap

In addition to the idioms beginning with cheap

  • cheap at twice the price
  • cheap shot
  • cheap skate

also see:

  • dirt cheap
  • on the cheap

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.