cheap

[ cheep ]

/ tʃip /

|||

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cheap ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, cheap·er, cheap·est.

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.

adverb

at a low price; at small cost: He is willing to sell cheap.

Nearby words

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, Informal. inexpensively; economically: She enjoys traveling on the cheap.

Origin of cheap

before 900; Middle English cheep (short for phrases, as good cheep cheap, literally, good bargain), Old English cēap bargain, market, trade; cognate with German Kauf, Old Norse kaup; all < Latin caupō innkeeper, tradesman; see chapman

SYNONYMS FOR cheap

4. paltry, low, poor, inferior, base.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cheap ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR cheap

1. costly, dear, expensive. 8. generous, charitable.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR cheap ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

cheap·ish, adjectivecheap·ish·ly, adverbcheap·ly, adverbcheap·ness, noun

o·ver·cheap, adjectiveo·ver·cheap·ly, adverbo·ver·cheap·ness, nounun·cheap·ly, adverb

Synonym study

1, 4. 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.

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

Examples from the Web for cheaper

You might think that the reason Medicaid does not require coverage of HCBS is because institutional care is cheaper.
Medicaid Will Give You Money for At-Home Care, but You Might Wait Years|Elizabeth Picciuto|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No lasting jobs, no cheaper gas, and a chance to kill off one-fourth of U.S. farmland and maybe the planet.
The Pipeline From Hell: There’s No Good Reason to Build Keystone XL|Jack Holmes|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wireless was cheaper than wired communications, and cell phones were proliferating.
How the NSA Became a Killing Machine|Shane Harris|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was 30 percent cheaper to operate than previous jets, and it carried twice as many people.
The Sexy Dream of the 747|Clive Irving|October 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The cars had plush green upholstery and stained-glass windows and were faster and cheaper than a horse-and-buggy.
Those Kansas City Blues: A Family History|Katie Baker|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He ought to have consulted her in order to get them cheaper.
Sentimental Education, Volume II|Gustave Flaubert
Some things are cheaper here—the railway comes a little cheaper, and is infinitely more miserable.
Sea and Sardinia|D. H. Lawrence
I think myself, as a general rule, it is cheaper to buy them off.
A Woman Intervenes|Robert Barr
The cheaper simpler scrims and cheese cloths which are easily laundered are now used by the best people.
The Upward Path|Various
It must be kept all at home, that our dear manufacturers may have it the cheaper.
Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin; Written by Himself, Volume II (of 2)|Benjamin Franklin

British Dictionary definitions for cheaper

cheap

/ (tʃiːp) /

adjective

costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value

charging low pricesa cheap hairdresser

of poor quality; shoddycheap furniture; cheap and nasty

worth relatively littlepromises are cheap

not worthy of respect; vulgar

ashamed; embarrassedto feel cheap

stingy; miserly

informal mean; despicablea cheap liar

cheap as chips See chip (def. 11)

dirt cheap informal extremely inexpensive

noun

on the cheap British informal at a low cost

adverb

at very little cost

Derived Formscheapish, adjectivecheaply, adverbcheapness, noun

Word Origin for cheap

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

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 cheaper

cheap

adj.

"low in price, that may be bought at small cost," c.1500, ultimately from Old English noun ceap "traffic, a purchase," from ceapian (v.) "trade," probably from an early Germanic borrowing from Latin caupo "petty tradesman, huckster" (see chapman).

The sense evolution is from the noun meaning "a barter, a purchase" to "a purchase as rated by the buyer," hence adjectival meaning "inexpensive," the main modern sense, via Middle English phrases such as god chep "favorable bargain" (12c., a translation of French a bon marché).

Sense of "lightly esteemed, common" is from 1590s (cf. similar evolution of Latin vilis). The meaning "low in price" was represented in Old English by undeor, literally "un-dear" (but deop ceap, literally "deep cheap," meant "high price").

The word also was used in Old English for "market" (cf. ceapdæg "market day"), a sense surviving in place names Cheapside, East Cheap, etc. Related: Cheaply. Expression on the cheap is first attested 1888. Cheap shot originally was U.S. football jargon for a head-on tackle; extended sense "unfair hit" in politics, etc. is by 1970. German billig "cheap" is from Middle Low German billik, originally "fair, just," with a sense evolution via billiger preis "fair price," etc.

Idioms and Phrases with cheaper

cheap

In addition to the idioms beginning with cheap

cheap at twice the price
cheap shot
cheap skate

also see:

dirt cheap
on the cheap

cheap

adjective, cheap·er, cheap·est.

adverb

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Idioms

Origin of cheap

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for cheaper

cheap

adjective

noun

adverb

Word Origin for cheap

cheap

cheap