affordable
Americanadjective
noun
Usage
What does affordable mean? If something is affordable, it means its price is low enough that you (or most people) have enough money to buy it. Affordable is the adjective form of the verb afford. If you can afford something, you have enough money to pay for it. Much less commonly, affordable can be used as a noun meaning an item that one can afford. Example: Rachel wants to buy a luxury car, but with her budget I think she should consider a more affordable option.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of affordable
Explanation
If something is affordable, it's priced reasonably, and you have enough money to buy it. Your friends might be jealous that the bike you bought at a yard sale was so affordable. If you live in an affordable city, it means that rents aren't too high for most of its residents, and if you buy an affordable dinner for yourself, it doesn't cost too much. The adjective affordable can either mean "cheap," or it can imply that even if it's expensive, you have enough money to easily buy it. The verb afford is at the root, and its earliest meaning was "accomplish." Gradually, afford came to have the meaning "manage to buy."
Vocabulary lists containing affordable
Michelle Obama's final address as First Lady (2017)
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History is made in PA: Clinton's DNC Acceptance Speech
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for May 7–May 13, 2022
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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.
The proposed Westside affordable housing project known as Venice Dell has seen it all: neighborhood uproar, lawsuits, clashing city directives to alternatively approve and deny.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
"Now our fight for a healthier, safer, more affordable, and more joyful Los Angeles continues," she added.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
“I hear a lot more about affordable housing and food nutrition and job opportunities than I do about Israel,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
Uhlarik said street-legal bikes with similarly affordable prices and the same sense of fun could change the trajectory of legacy bike manufacturers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
To make vacations affordable, at public auction the Warden bought a bus that, oddly enough, had once been a mobile TB clinic, with a turret-like bulge in its roof to accommodate an X-ray machine.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
