cheap
adjective /tʃiːp/
/tʃiːp/
(comparative cheaper, superlative cheapest)
Idioms - cheap imports/flights
- Their cheap prices have helped them pick up new customers.
- They're offering incredibly cheap fares to Eastern Europe.
- Cycling is a cheap way to get around.
- A good education is not cheap.
- Electricity is relatively cheap in Ireland.
- The device isn't exactly cheap at £500.
- A falling dollar will boost the economy by making exports cheaper.
- a cheaper alternative/option
- Renewable energy is getting cheaper all the time.
- The cheapest rates are usually available online.
- immigrant workers, used as a source of cheap labour (= workers who are paid very little, especially unfairly)
- cheap to do Game shows are cheap to produce.
- it is cheap to do something Why go by train when it's so cheap to hop on a plane?
Synonyms cheapcheapsee also dirt cheap opposite expensive- competitive
- budget
- affordable
- reasonable
- inexpensive
- cheap costing little money or less money than you expected; charging low prices. Cheap can also be used in a disapproving way to suggest that something is of poor quality as well as low in price: a bottle of cheap perfume .
- competitive (of prices, goods or services) as cheap as or cheaper than those offered by other companies; able to offer goods or services at competitive prices.
- budget [only before noun] (used especially in advertising) cheap because it offers only a basic level of service.
- affordable cheap enough for most people to afford.
- reasonable (of prices) not too expensive.
- inexpensive (rather formal) cheap. Inexpensive is often used to mean that something is good value for its price. It is sometimes used instead of cheap, because cheap can suggest that something is of poor quality.
- cheap/competitive/budget/affordable/reasonable prices/fares/rates
- cheap/competitive/budget/affordable/inexpensive products/services
Extra ExamplesTopics Moneya1, Shoppinga1- The market has been flooded with cheap imports.
- The printer isn't exactly cheap at £200.
- The town is full of immigrant workers, used as a source of cheap labour.
- The watch was suspiciously cheap; it was probably a fake.
- a cheap restaurant/hotel
- a cheap taxi firm
- (British English) We found a cheap and cheerful cafe (= one that is simple and charges low prices but is pleasant).
Extra Examples- It's a good restaurant, and incredibly cheap.
- Italy was a very cheap country to visit in those days.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- be going
- buy something
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- cheap perfume/jewellery/shoes
- cheap plastic toys that break within seconds
- (British English) a cheap and nasty bottle of wine
Extra Examples- cheap and nasty products with brand names you've never heard of
- We brought a few cheap and nasty bottles of wine home from holiday.
- The room was filled with the smell of cheap perfume.
- It was just a bottle of cheap perfume.
- The bag looks cheap and nasty.
- The glasses are plain without looking cheap.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- be going
- buy something
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- unpleasant or unkind and rather obvious
- I was tired of his cheap jokes at my expense.
- a comedian who is always looking for cheap laughs
- to score a cheap political advantage
- He couldn't resist taking a cheap shot at his political opponent.
- (disapproving) having a low status and therefore not deserving respect
- He's just a cheap crook.
- His treatment of her made her feel cheap (= ashamed, because she had lost her respect for herself).
- (North American English) (British English mean)(informal, disapproving) not liking to spend money
- Don't be so cheap!
Extra ExamplesTopics Moneyc1- He's so cheap, he'd never fly to London in a million years.
- She was just too cheap to buy a real present.
- He was so generous he made the other guests look cheap.
low price
poor quality
unkind
low status
not generous
Word Originlate 15th cent.: from an obsolete phrase good cheap ‘a good bargain’, from Old English cēap ‘bargaining, trade’, based on Latin caupo ‘small trader, innkeeper’.
Idioms
cheap at the price
(also cheap at twice the price)
(also British English, humorous cheap at half the price)
- so good or useful that the cost does not seem too much
- To buy all the recommended equipment is expensive, but as an investment for the future it is cheap at the price.
life is cheap
- (disapproving) used to say that there is a situation in which it is not thought to be important if people somewhere die or are treated badly
on the cheap (usually disapproving)
- spending less money than you usually need to spend to do something
- a guide to decorating your house on the cheap
- to acquire valuable works of art on the cheap
- The school managed to get a couple of computers on the cheap.