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cheapen

[chee-puh n]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cheapen ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to make cheap or cheaper.

to lower in esteem; bring into contempt: Constant swearing cheapened him.

to decrease the quality or beauty of; make inferior or vulgar: She cheapened the dress by adding a fringe to it.

Archaic. to bargain for.

verb (used without object)

to become cheap or cheaper.

Origin of cheapen

1555–65; cheap + -en¹; 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

Related formscheap·en·er, nounun·cheap·ened, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cheapen

mar, debase, minimize, denigrate, demean, degrade, disparage, decline, lower, decry, derogate, undervalue, ruin, drop, reduce, damage, devalue, downgrade, discredit, spoil

Examples from the Web for cheapen

Contemporary Examples of cheapen

In 2012, the “Israel-right-or-wrong” crowd continued to cheapen the very serious issue of anti-Semitism.
Top Ten Issues The ADL Ignored
Lara Friedman
December 17, 2012
The first are books that bring added value to the popular, the second cheapen the whole proposition of publishing.
The $5 Million Ghost Story
Celia McGee
October 3, 2009

Historical Examples of cheapen

He loved with single heart and refused to cheapen himself or his love.
White Fang
Jack London
To quote or to individualize would be to cheapen this vast offering.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete
Albert Bigelow Paine
He was never known to bargain for a book or to endeavour to cheapen it.
The Book-Hunter in London
William Roberts
At "cheapen the cost" his big ears twitched as if they had been tickled.
The Plum Tree
David Graham Phillips
It wont do to cheapen your work by putting a small price on it.
Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 6, July 1905
Various

British Dictionary definitions for cheapen

cheapen

verb

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

to make or become cheap or cheaper

Derived Formscheapener, noun

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

Word Origin and History for cheapen

v.

1570s, "ask the price of," from cheap (adj.) + -en (1). Meaning "lower the price of" is from 1833, but figuratively, "to lower in estimation" is from 1650s. Related: Cheapened; cheapening.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper