daylight robbery

British

noun

informal blatant overcharging

"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

daylight robbery Idioms

Charging exorbitant prices, as in The amount you're asking for this couch is daylight robbery. [Mid-1900s] Also see highway robbery.

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

daylight robbery

Tracey said: "It might be theft what I did – what so many others around here are doing. But the prices they're charging for gas and electric are daylight robbery."

From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026

Everyone agrees the Louvre is in poor shape, however, with a recent water leak, structural problems and an embarrassing daylight robbery in October focusing minds.

From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026

The embassy called Washington's behaviour "daylight robbery" and "gangster," demanding it provide a formal apology and compensation and arrest and extradite the raiders.

From Reuters ● Apr. 3, 2023

Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said the analysis "shows how town halls are committing daylight robbery by ripping off drivers with exorbitant parking charges".

From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2014

"After that rascal, Rogers!" cried Dave Darrin, aghast at the boldness of this daylight robbery.

From Dave Darrin at Vera Cruz by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023