rip off
Britishverb
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(tr) to tear violently or roughly (from)
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slang (adverb) to steal from or cheat (someone)
noun
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slang an article or articles stolen
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slang a grossly overpriced article
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slang the act of stealing or cheating
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Steal, as in They fired him when they caught him ripping off some of the merchandise .
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Cheat, defraud, as in These advertising claims have ripped off a great many consumers .
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Copy, plagiarize, as in He was sued for ripping off someone else's thesis . All three usages are slang from the second half of the 1900s.
Explanation
A rip-off is when someone deliberately overcharges for something they're selling, or steals someone else's idea. A movie that uses the exact same plot as an earlier movie might be considered a rip-off. Rip-off is an informal term for a theft or fraud of some kind. If you claim you're selling rare, antique postcards, but they're actually cheap copies you made at home, that's a rip-off. And if you copy an artist's design, print it on a t-shirt, and sell it, that's also a rip-off. First used in the 1960s, rip-off comes from African American slang, from the vernacular rip, "to steal."
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.
Matthew Upton, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: "Rip-off renewal prices have seen consumers paying over the odds for far too long. No longer can you be exploited just for staying loyal."
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2021
Rip-off websites which charge people for free Covid-19 passenger locator forms feature prominently in Google search results, the BBC has found.
From BBC • Jul. 28, 2021
Rip-off, of course, is an insulting word to apply to something as absorbingly entertaining as “Stranger Things 2,” the hotly anticipated sequel to Netflix’s rapturously retro hit miniseries “Stranger Things.”
From Washington Post • Oct. 24, 2017
Gringas, who also represents the Rip-off Report, a website for disgruntled customers to write reviews of businesses, says he expects this to open the door to lawsuits against that site in Kentucky.
From Forbes • Jul. 11, 2013
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.
