cheap

American  

[cheep] / tʃip /

adjective

cheaper, cheapest

1. costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive.

   a cheap dress.

   Antonyms

   expensive , dear , costly

2. costing little labor or trouble.

   Words are cheap.

3. charging low prices.

   a very cheap store.

4. of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy.

   cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.

   Synonyms:

   base , inferior , poor , low , paltry

5. embarrassed; sheepish.

   He felt cheap about his mistake.

6. obtainable at a low rate of interest.

   when money is cheap.

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

8. stingy; miserly.

   He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.

   Antonyms

   charitable , generous

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adverb

1. at a low price; at small cost.

   He is willing to sell cheap.

idioms

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,  inexpensively; economically.

   She enjoys traveling on the cheap.

cheap British  

/ tʃiːp /

adjective

1. costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value

2. charging low prices

   a cheap hairdresser

3. of poor quality; shoddy

   cheap furniture

   cheap and nasty

4. worth relatively little

   promises are cheap

5. not worthy of respect; vulgar

6. ashamed; embarrassed

   to feel cheap

7. stingy; miserly

8. informal  mean; despicable

   a cheap liar

9. See chip

10. informal  extremely inexpensive

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noun

1. informal  at a low cost

adverb

1. at very little cost

cheap More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing cheap

• dirt cheap
• on the cheap

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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

Will model builders such as Anthropic or OpenAI become a commodity as they compete with cheaper models such as DeepSeek, which emerged from China?

From The Wall Street Journal

Looking ahead: Many companies say overseas suppliers are still cheaper even after high U.S. tariffs are factored in, giving them little incentive to seek out domestic sources that in many cases don’t even exist.

From MarketWatch

The white metal is also much cheaper than gold, attracting a broad range of investors seeking more affordable safe-haven assets, and is widely used in industry—from the manufacture of solar panels to artificial-intelligence semiconductors.

From The Wall Street Journal

The focus for the Vikings’ remaining games will be whether McCarthy can improve enough to suggest that there may still be some value on his cheap deal.

From The Wall Street Journal

A cheaper alternative to CCTV, IP cameras - otherwise known as home cameras - connect to a home internet network and are often installed for security or to monitor the safety of children and pets.

From BBC

Related Words

• competitive
• economical
• low-cost
• low-priced
• reasonable