costly
Americanadjective
-
costing much; expensive; high in price.
a costly emerald bracelet; costly medical care.
- Synonyms:
- high-priced, dear
-
resulting in great expense.
The upkeep of such a large house is costly.
-
resulting in great detriment.
It was a costly mistake because no one ever trusted him again.
-
of great value; very valuable; sumptuous.
-
lavish; extravagant.
adjective
-
of great price or value; expensive
-
entailing great loss or sacrifice
a costly victory
-
splendid; lavish
Synonym Usage
See expensive.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of costly
First recorded in 1350–1400, costly is from the Middle English word costli. See cost, -ly
Explanation
Something that's costly is expensive. The worst kind of news you can hear from your car mechanic is that you need costly repairs. Things that cost a lot of money are costly, but you can also use the word for events that cost you other things — like time, happiness, or advantage. A soldier's costly mistake might result in someone's death, and a costly law might end up hurting the people it's meant to help.In the 13th century, costful was used instead, and both words stem from cost, which has a Latin root, constare, "to stand at," or "to cost."
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.
See Examples For:
Hasen previously called the ballot measure a “disaster,” writing in a blog post that its requirements are vague and it would be costly and difficult for agencies to verify citizenship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Expand’s integration strategy could become even more costly if the company is able to add midstream assets, they add.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Representatives for landlords say they understand the importance of companionship that pets offer to tenants, but they can still face costly damage.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Maintaining one home is obviously far less costly than maintaining two separate homes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Howard had masterminded a situation that made refusal costly.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
But their coverage tends to be skimpier and often costlier than policies sold by travel insurers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Its future access to markets, and therefore to liquidity, will be harder and costlier in the long run.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
Higher interest rates make it costlier to borrow money, which acts as a brake on spending, employment, and economic growth.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
If they prevail, expect costlier new homes and thousands of lost jobs in the U.S. quartz fabricating industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
But they bowed to Sproul’s judgment that losing Lawrence would be even costlier, and voted to cover all the annual operating and maintenance costs that Lawrence had budgeted for the Rad Lab.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
This is probably the least costly option, but also the costliest politically.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Burns: It is one of the costliest mistakes investors make.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
"It's very expensive to run a war," he said, noting that on a day-to-day basis, the Iran conflict "has to be up there with the costliest interventions the US has undertaken from a financial perspective."
From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026
Of the eight costliest settlements involving the county, six involved the Sheriff’s Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
He called Burnham a “colossal merchandiser” fixated on building the biggest, tallest, costliest structures.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
