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• caveat emptor
  caveat emptor

  noun

  let the buyer beware: the principle that the seller of a product cannot be held responsible for its quality unless it is guaranteed in a warranty.
• Caveat emptor
  Caveat emptor

  Latin for “Let the buyer beware.” It means that a customer should be cautious and alert to the possibility of being cheated: “Caveat emptor is the first rule of buying a used car.”

caveat emptor

American  

[kav-ee-aht emp-tawr, -at, kah-vee-, key-, kah-we-aht emp-tohr] / ˈkæv iˌɑt ˈɛmp tɔr, -ˌæt, ˈkɑ vi-, keɪ-, ˈkɑ wɛˌɑt ˈɛmp toʊr /

noun

1. let the buyer beware: the principle that the seller of a product cannot be held responsible for its quality unless it is guaranteed in a warranty.

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caveat emptor British  

/ ˈɛmptɔː /

noun

1. the principle that the buyer must bear the risk for the quality of goods purchased unless they are covered by the seller's warranty

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Caveat emptor Cultural  

1. Latin for “Let the buyer beware.” It means that a customer should be cautious and alert to the possibility of being cheated: “Caveat emptor is the first rule of buying a used car.”

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Etymology

Origin of caveat emptor

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1515–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

caveat emptor Caveat emptor

As the phrase goes in Latin — caveat emptor, or “let the buyer beware.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2024

"This is one of the caveat emptor things that all foreign would-be acquirers should keep in mind."

From Reuters ● Aug. 31, 2023

New Yorkers are going to be talking about Speaker’s Corner, at 8-5, but caveat emptor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2022

Do you see any universe in which there is a regulatory framework that has the caveat emptor stuff labeled out there the way you guys want it to be?

From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2022

For nearly four thousand years, perhaps longer, caveat emptor ruled the hard world of barter.

From The Romance of a Great Store by Edward Hungerford

But any deal for Bauer will come with a Caveat emptor — buy at your own risk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2023

In other words, the old standard should prevail: Caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.

From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2018

Caveat emptor, suggested John White, 72, a medium, mystic and medical intuitive, for the American Medical Association has not blessed these practices.

From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2018

William Kirby, a Harvard Business School professor with ties to several funds that invest in China, said "the fundamental governance and political issues that destabilized the Shanghai exchange last summer remain unaddressed. Caveat emptor."

From Reuters ● Jun. 7, 2016

"Caveat emptor" is the only rule by which fair rents may be reached.

From The Landleaguers by Anthony Trollope