cheap
Americanadjective
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costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive.
a cheap dress.
-
costing little labor or trouble.
Words are cheap.
-
charging low prices.
a very cheap store.
-
of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy.
cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.
-
embarrassed; sheepish.
He felt cheap about his mistake.
-
obtainable at a low rate of interest.
when money is cheap.
-
of decreased value or purchasing power, as currency depreciated due to inflation.
-
stingy; miserly.
He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.
- Antonyms:
- charitable, generous
adverb
idioms
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cheap at twice the price, exceedingly inexpensive.
I found this old chair for eight dollars—it would be cheap at twice the price.
-
on the cheap, inexpensively; economically.
She enjoys traveling on the cheap.
adjective
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costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value
-
charging low prices
a cheap hairdresser
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of poor quality; shoddy
cheap furniture
cheap and nasty
-
worth relatively little
promises are cheap
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not worthy of respect; vulgar
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ashamed; embarrassed
to feel cheap
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stingy; miserly
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informal mean; despicable
a cheap liar
-
See chip
-
informal extremely inexpensive
noun
adverb
Related Words
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 Word Forms
- cheapish adjective
- cheapishly adverb
- cheaply adverb
- cheapness noun
- overcheap adjective
- overcheaply adverb
- overcheapness noun
- uncheaply adverb
Etymology
Origin of cheap
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”; chapman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Iranian state media and diplomatic accounts have leaned into their strategy, regularly posting similar so-called AI slop -- mass-produced content created by cheap artificial intelligence tools.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
The more refiners have to pay for crude deliveries, the more they have to charge for fuel, even if contracts for future oil shipments are cheap by comparison.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Train travel is relatively cheap in Europe, compared with the U.S., at least.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
She expected to see more cheap tickets added by the time her mom had her chance over the weekend, or during her sister’s slot on Monday.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Not cheap cardboard gravestones, but full-on motorized zombies that creep across the driveway by themselves.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
