inexpensive
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See cheap.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inexpensive
Explanation
Anything that's inexpensive doesn't cost a lot. The inexpensive camping trip your family takes, instead of flying first class to Disney World, might turn out to be a lot of fun! Inexpensive things are affordable, sometimes because they're cheaply made, but often because they're reasonably priced. Check out the thrift stores before you buy those $200 jeans — you might find an inexpensive used pair that looks identical! Or cook an inexpensive meal at home instead of eating at a fancy restaurant, and you'll have money to splurge on dessert. The Latin root of expensive means "weigh out money," and the prefix in- means "not."
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.
Rubner said downside protection is inexpensive, calculating that demand for market protection is in the bottom first percentile of the entire year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
These materials are both useful and relatively inexpensive.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
There is also evidence that, almost simultaneously, another arm of the federal government was allowing inexpensive wild horses to enter a chain that could end at foreign slaughterhouses.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
It’s seen as particularly beneficial for apartment dwellers and renters and would provide users with a relatively inexpensive way to lower their electrical bills by generating some of their own electricity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
I had explicitly instructed my travel agent to choose something inexpensive, in the thirty-to-forty-dollar range.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
