cheap
Americanadjective
-
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
-
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
-
costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value
-
charging low prices
a cheap hairdresser
-
of poor quality; shoddy
cheap furniture
cheap and nasty
-
worth relatively little
promises are cheap
-
not worthy of respect; vulgar
-
ashamed; embarrassed
to feel cheap
-
stingy; miserly
-
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.
Residential proxy software has been spotted on cheap, off-brand video-streaming gadgets, too.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
Stick with American stocks for the clever tech and cheap domestic energy, and overseas ones for lower valuations and a currency hedge.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
There’s malware lurking in shady smartphone apps and cheap off-brand household electronics.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
That’s what makes these options relatively cheap and sets the stage for a profit if the stock continues to move as it has in the past.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026
“Looks pretty cheap for someone who’s supposed to be a high-priced attorney.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
