cheapen

[chee-puhn]

verb (used with object)

1. to make cheap or cheaper.

2. to lower in esteem; bring into contempt.

   Constant swearing cheapened him.

3. to decrease the quality or beauty of; make inferior or vulgar.

   She cheapened the dress by adding a fringe to it.

4. Archaic.,  to bargain for.

verb (used without object)

1. to become cheap or cheaper.

cheapen

/ ˈtʃiːpən /

verb

1. to make or become lower in reputation, quality, etc; degrade or be degraded

2. to make or become cheap or cheaper

Other Word Forms

• cheapener noun
• uncheapened adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheapen¹

1555–65; cheap + -en ¹; replacing Middle English chepen (> obsolete English cheap (v.)) to price, bargain, Old English cēapian to bargain, trade, buy; cognate with Old Norse kaupa, Gothic kaupōn, German kaufen

Example Sentences

If the company gets over its overamplification, which cheapens everything it presents, that need not disastrously lessen the impact.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Years of sluggish economic growth have cheapened British assets, making the U.K. a happy hunting ground for private-equity firms and the world’s rich.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Woodson said the bill has created a culture of self-censorship in her classes, threatened the accreditation of her program, and cheapened her academic experience.

Read more on Salon

These missives exploded the myths around a man who has for decades been derided as a cynical and unscrupulous opportunist that cheapened Presley’s legacy while enriching himself at his client’s expense.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This "cheapens the significance" of the tradition and divides the country, he argued.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• debase 
• degrade 
• demean 
• denigrate 
• disparage 
• mar 
• minimize