fee
Americannoun
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fees
plural
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a charge or payment for professional services.
a doctor's fee.
- Synonyms:
- honorarium, emolument, salary, stipend
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a sum paid or charged for a privilege.
an admission fee.
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a charge allowed by law for the service of a public officer.
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Law.
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an estate of inheritance in land, either absolute and without limitation to any particular class of heirs fee simple or limited to a particular class of heirs fee tail.
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an inheritable estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of the performing of certain services.
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a territory held in fee.
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a gratuity; tip.
verb (used with object)
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to give a fee to.
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Chiefly Scot. to hire; employ.
noun
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a payment asked by professional people or public servants for their services
a doctor's fee
school fees
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a charge made for a privilege
an entrance fee
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property law
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an interest in land capable of being inherited See fee simple fee tail
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the land held in fee
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(in feudal Europe) the land granted by a lord to his vassal
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an obsolete word for a gratuity
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law (of land) in absolute ownership
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archaic in complete subjection
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verb
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rare to give a fee to
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to hire for a fee
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fee
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French fie, variant of fief fief. See feudal
Explanation
A fee is the cost of something, or the amount of money charged. You might need to pay a fee when you visit your favorite state park. Clubs, national parks, and gyms all charge a fee to belong or to enter. There is also the fee that a professional charges for services, like the legal fee you pay when you hire an attorney or the fee you pay your dentist to clean your teeth. Fee has an Old French origin in the word fieu, "possession, holding, domain, or payment," from the Medieval Latin feodum, "land whose use is granted in return for service."
Vocabulary lists containing fee
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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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:
It’s worth noting that some agents do charge a client-service fee, which can average between $100 and $300, while more complex itineraries can set you back up to $700, according to AAA.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Amex raised its Platinum card fee soon after.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Smaller, lower-level events - such as the third-tier Volta a Portugal - sell their rights to be broadcast at a lower fee and use more cost-effective measures to manage road closures.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
There’s no cost: I learned that many travel agents don’t charge clients a fee.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
The thought of going back to school was exhilarating—but I also knew they wouldn't take me without the full fee.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
Personal-finance experts warn that nontraditional payment channels don’t always share the same consumer-safety protections as options linked to traditional banks, and can come with unexpected fees attached.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Unlike in the U.S. system, tuition fees are broadly the same at most English universities, so most students have no lower-cost option to avoid debt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Virgin Atlantic is being investigated to see whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes were included in the upfront prices shown to customers buying package holidays.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Condominium buying recently fell to a 20-year low as potential buyers have been discouraged by high interest rates and building fees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
In Virginia, for example, fees paid to court-appointed attorneys for representing someone charged with a felony that carries a sentence of less than twenty years are capped at $428.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
A community leader in Ceuta, Sabah Hamad, has been collecting donations to feed hundreds of migrants a day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
So now, with two carrier groups, there are 12,000 people to service and feed, not 6,000.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
"Don't feed them, they don't need feeding. Some people think they're doing a good deed. In fact you're not, you're doing quite the opposite."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
We have created compost piles, where beetle larvae often feed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Renn was kneeling at the mouth of the cave, trying to feed Wolf a handful of crowberries.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
On the eve of the United States' 250th birthday, Abdi, like many Americans, is feeing uneasy about the future of his country.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
“There is an increased excitement — the feeing is palpable,” said Legend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024
Shelters for Ukrainians feeing the Russian invasion, who do not need to apply for asylum in the Netherlands, are also nearly full, he said.
From Reuters ● Aug. 18, 2022
She mixed in stripes and solids to keep rooms from feeing overgrown.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2022
“Will you report it? I’m not feeing well.”
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
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.
