cheap

[ cheep ]

adjective

, cheap·er, cheap·est.

1. costing very little; relatively low in price; inexpensive:

   a cheap dress.

   Antonyms: expensive, dear, costly

2. costing little labor or trouble:

   Words are cheap.

3. charging low prices:

   a very cheap store.

4. of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy:

   cheap conduct; cheap workmanship.

   Synonyms: base, inferior, poor, low, paltry

5. embarrassed; sheepish:

   He felt cheap about his mistake.

6. obtainable at a low rate of interest:

   when money is cheap.

7. of decreased value or purchasing power, as currency depreciated due to inflation.
8. stingy; miserly:

   He's too cheap to buy his own brother a cup of coffee.

   Antonyms: charitable, generous

adverb

1. at a low price; at small cost:

   He is willing to sell cheap.

cheap

/ tʃiːp /

adjective

1. costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value
2. charging low prices

   a cheap hairdresser

3. of poor quality; shoddy

   cheap and nasty

   cheap furniture

4. worth relatively little

   promises are cheap

5. not worthy of respect; vulgar
6. ashamed; embarrassed

   to feel cheap

7. stingy; miserly
8. informal.
   mean; despicable

   a cheap liar

9. cheap as chips
   See chip
10. dirt cheap informal.
    extremely inexpensive

noun

1. on the cheap informal.
   at a low cost

adverb

1. at very little cost

Derived Forms

• ˈcheaply, adverb
• ˈcheapness, noun
• ˈcheapish, adjective

Other Words From

• cheapish adjective
• cheapish·ly adverb
• cheaply adverb
• cheapness noun
• over·cheap adjective
• over·cheaply adverb
• over·cheapness noun
• un·cheaply adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheap¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English cheep (short for phrases such as good cheep “cheap,” literally, “good bargain”), Old English cēap “bargain, market, trade”; cognate with German Kauf, Old Norse kaup; all from Latin caupō “innkeeper, tradesman”; chapman

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheap¹

Old English ceap barter, bargain, price, property; related to Old Norse kaup bargain, Old High German kouf trade, Latin caupō innkeeper

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. cheap at twice the price, exceedingly inexpensive:

   I found this old chair for eight dollars—it would be cheap at twice the price.

2. on the cheap, Informal. inexpensively; economically:

   She enjoys traveling on the cheap.

More idioms and phrases containing cheap

• dirt cheap
• on the cheap

Synonym Study

Cheap, inexpensive agree in their suggestion of low cost. Cheap now usually suggests shoddiness, inferiority, showy imitation, complete unworthiness, and the like: a cheap kind of fur. Inexpensive emphasizes lowness of price (although more expensive than cheap ) and suggests that the value is fully equal to the cost: an inexpensive dress. It is often used as an evasion for the more specific cheap.

Example Sentences

While they speak of things like “justice,” the Piltover politicians and police do so with an incomplete understanding of the word because they regard Zaun life as cheap.

From Salon

Compared to missiles they are much cheaper to build, easier to fire, and designed to sap morale.

From BBC

Netflix said Tuesday that it had reached 70 million monthly active users on its ad-supported plan, two years after launching its cheaper subscription tier that includes commercials.

From Los Angeles Times

Instrumental in feminizing the occupation, Beecher argued that pious young women should be the ones to do the moral work of teaching — in no small part because they provided cheap labor.

From Los Angeles Times

This proposal is very attractive to richer countries in Europe as it is far cheaper to pay for a wind farm somewhere in Africa, for example, than to subsidise heat pumps at home.

From BBC

Related Words

• competitive
• economical
• low-cost
• low-priced
• reasonable