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Synonyms

pay through the nose

Cultural  

  1. To pay unreasonably high prices: “If you visit any major city these days, you had better be prepared to pay through the nose for a hotel room.”

pay through the nose Idioms  

  1. Pay an excessive amount for something, as in We paid through the nose for that vacation. The origin of this term has been lost. Possibly it alludes to the Danish nose tax, imposed in Ireland in the 9th century, whereby delinquent taxpayers were punished by having their noses slit. [Second half of 1600s]

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.

Moreover, customers are always going to pay through the nose for tickets to high-profile, massively popular acts like Taylor Swift.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2024

We have one daughter and pay through the nose for private childcare.

From Slate • Sep. 15, 2023

On the islands this can be much harder and the lack of choice means most locals have no option but to pay through the nose.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2022

Certainly Arsenal’s supporters, who pay through the nose, deserve better and are entitled to vent their frustrations.

From The Guardian • Oct. 28, 2019

Why pay through the nose for contractors when you can do it yourself? he always said.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

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.