price gouging
noun
an act or instance of charging customers too high a price for goods or services, especially when demand is high and supplies are limited.
price gouge
-
a word derived from
price gouging.
price-gouge
-
a word derived from
price gouging.
price gougingnounan act or instance of charging customers too high a price for goods or services, especially when demand is high and supplies are limited.
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:
The government says authorities have carried out raids and taken action against hoarders and black marketeers who are exploiting shortages to price gouge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
“I didn’t want to price gouge the public, and I wanted to reward the people who were loyal customers for me all season long,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
“It’s wrong to price gouge — especially during a pandemic where hundreds of thousands have lost their lives,” wrote Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2021
Perhaps this move—or even the possibility of such competition—could scare Mylan into scaling back its decadelong price gouge.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2016
Rule No. 1, however, is never, ever price gouge.
From BusinessWeek ● Feb. 22, 2012
The Big Tech types whose main value still stems from their consumer products, like Apple, have no choice but to wait behind the preferred clientele, and to price-gouge their own shrinking inventories in the meantime.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
We offer downloadable content like e-books and e-audiobooks, but our purchasing power for these collections is limited by publishers who love to price-gouge and change license terms without notice.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2022
“You admitted you’re going to price-gouge us,” Heitzmann said.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 7, 2022
In addition to the provisions in the Seattle bill above, the NYC bill prevents so-called “pay-for-privacy” regimes in which cable providers price-gouge their customers for the privilege of protecting their privacy.
From Slate ● Nov. 14, 2018
