cheap

[cheep]

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

adverb

1. at a low price; at small cost.

   He is willing to sell cheap.

cheap

/ 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

noun

1. informal,  at a low cost

adverb

1. at very little cost

Other Word Forms

• cheapish adjective
• cheapishly adverb
• cheaply adverb
• cheapness noun
• overcheap adjective
• overcheaply adverb
• overcheapness noun
• uncheaply adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheap¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheap¹

Old English ceap barter, bargain, price, property; related to Old Norse kaup bargain, Old High German kouf trade, Latin caupō innkeeper

Idioms and Phrases

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.

More idioms and phrases containing cheap

• dirt cheap
• on the cheap

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

And on Tuesday they were dumped en masse: Share price was the best indicator of stock performance, with the cheapest U.S. shares dropping the most.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Shopping in such shops would be cheaper for customers.

Read more on BBC

However, distribution of the cheaper knockoff versions was expected to stop by the end of May when they came off the shortage list.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Somebody has to pay on either the front end or the back end, and it’s always cheaper to pay sooner rather than later.

Read more on MarketWatch

The Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates, and that will make car loans cheaper.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

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