Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

cheap out

British  

verb

  1. informal (intr, adverb) to take the cheapest option; try to do something as cheaply as possible

"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

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.

See Examples For:

We definitely did not cheap out at the end.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 11, 2026

I think people often cheap out on a blender for their home kitchen.

From Seattle Times Nov. 17, 2022

PowerA omitted impulse trigger rumble, but if there’s any feature to cheap out on, I’d say that’s the right choice.

From The Verge May 25, 2022

Heaven is, in fact, a corporate cheap out of the ultimate mountain lodge vacation, full of technicolor fall foliage yet rife with algorithmic glitches, causing him to sometimes long for authentic death.

From Scientific American Jul. 21, 2020

I believe living is cheap out there, and if I buy three or four mules I shall then have to pay only the wages for the muleteers, and the expenses of living.

From The Treasure of the Incas by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training