cheap

I. cheap¹ S1 W2 /tʃiːp/ BrE AmE adjective (comparative cheaper, superlative cheapest)
[Date: 1500-1600; Origin: good cheap 'at a good price, cheaply', from cheap 'trade, price' (11-18 centuries), from Old English ceap]
1. LOW PRICE not at all expensive, or lower in price than you expected OPP expensive:
cheap rail fares
the cheapest TV on the market
Property is cheaper in Spain than here.
a cheap shop (=one that sells goods cheaply)
The equipment is relatively cheap and simple to use.
This coat was dirt cheap (= very cheap - an informal expression)
cheap and cheerful British English (=simple and not expensive, but of reasonable quality)
a cheap and cheerful Italian restaurant
2. BAD QUALITY low in price and quality:
Cheap wine gives me a headache.
cheap jewellery
The furniture looked cheap and nasty.
a cheap imitation of the real thing
3. NOT EXPENSIVE TO USE not costing much to use or to employ SYN inexpensive
cheap to run/use/maintain etc
Gas appliances are usually cheaper to run than electric ones.
For the employer, a part-time workforce means a cheap labour supply.
4. NOT DESERVING RESPECT showing a lack of honesty, moral principles, or sincere feelings, so that you do not deserve respect:
She felt cheap and stupid, like a naughty child caught stealing.
You’re lying, aren’t you? You’re so cheap.
His remark was a cheap shot at short people.
another cheap political stunt
It was nothing but a cheap trick (=unkind trick).
5. NOT GENEROUS American English not liking to spend money SYN mean British English:
She’s too cheap to take a cab.
6. cheap thrill excitement that does not take much effort to get:
Bella will sleep with anyone for a cheap thrill.
7. life is cheap used to say that it is not important if people die
8. cheap at the price/at any price British English, cheap at twice the price so good, useful, or desirable that the cost is not important
—cheaply adverb:
a cheaply furnished room
They lived as cheaply as possible.
—cheapness noun [uncountable]:
the relative cheapness of housing
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ cheap costing very little money, or less than you expected: My shoes were really cheap – they only cost £25. | The cheapest way to get to Chicago is to take the bus. | cheap flights
▪ low low prices, rents, and fees do not cost a lot of money. Do not use cheap with these words: Why is the share price so low? | You could get equally good accommodation elsewhere at a lower rent.
▪ inexpensive especially written not expensive – use this especially about things that are of good quality, even though they do not cost a lot: The furniture is inexpensive, but well made. | a simple inexpensive meal | a hotel that offers air-conditioned rooms at relatively inexpensive prices
▪ reasonable a reasonable price seems fair because it is not too high: The restaurant serves good food at reasonable prices. | Only £25 a night? That sounds reasonable.
▪ economical cheap because you do not need to use a lot of money or fuel: an economical car | It is usually more economical to buy in large quantities.
▪ affordable cheap enough for most people to be able to buy or pay for: affordable housing | Single mothers often have trouble finding affordable childcare. | The shop sells designer fashions at affordable prices.
▪ competitive competitive prices and rates are as low as those charged by other shops or companies: I think you’ll find our prices are extremely competitive. | The hotel offers a high standard of service at very competitive rates.
▪ budget [only before noun] budget flights, airlines, hotels etc have specially low prices: You can get a budget flight to Amsterdam for only £19. | a list of budget hotels for under $50 a night | budget accommodation for families with young children
▪ be good/great value to be worth at least the price you pay for it, so that you feel pleased and think you have spent your money well: The meals at Charlie’s Pizza are really good value. | The holiday is great value for money.
▪ be a bargain informal to be extremely cheap: I got this shirt when I was in Indonesia. It was a real bargain.
■ COLLOCATIONS CHECK
▪ low price/cost/rent/fee/charge
▪ reasonable price/cost
▪ economical car/way/method
▪ affordable accommodation/housing/price
▪ competitive price/rate
▪ budget flight/airline/hotel/accommodation

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

cheap

cheap [cheap cheaper cheapest] adjective, adverb [tʃiːp] [tʃiːp]

adjective (cheap·er, cheap·est)

LOW PRICE
1. costing little money or less money than you expected
Syn: inexpensive
• cheap fares
• Personal computers are cheap and getting cheaper.
• Cycling is a cheap way to get around.
• The printer isn't exactly cheap at £200.
• immigrant workers, used as a source of cheap labour (= workers who are paid very little, especially unfairly)
• A good education is not cheap.
• (BrE) Calls cost 36p a minute cheap rate.
see also dirt cheap

Opp: expensive

2. charging low prices
• a cheap restaurant/hotel
• a cheap taxi firm
• (BrE) We found a cheap and cheerful cafe (= one that is simple and charges low prices but is pleasant).

Opp: expensive

POOR QUALITY

3. (disapproving) low in price and quality
• cheap perfume/jewellery/shoes

• (BrE) a cheap and nasty bottle of wine

UNKIND

4. 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

LOW STATUS

5. (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).

NOT GENEROUS

6. (NAmE) (BrE mean) (informal, disapproving) not liking to spend money
• Don't be so cheap!
more at life is cheap at life
Word Origin:
late 15th cent.: from an obsolete phrase good cheap ‘a good bargain’, from Old English cēap ‘bargaining, trade’, based on Latin caupo ‘small trader, innkeeper’.
Thesaurus:
cheap adj.
1.
• You can get incredibly cheap fares on the Internet.
budget • • economical • • affordable • • reasonable • • half-price • • inexpensive • |especially business competitive •
Opp: expensive
cheap/budget/economical/affordable/reasonable/competitive prices/rates/fares
cheap/economical/affordable/inexpensive/competitive products/services
cheap/affordable/inexpensive goods
2. (disapproving)
• cheap and nasty bottles of wine
poor • • bad • • second-rate • • inferior • |BrE, taboo, slang crap • • shit • |AmE, taboo, slang crappy • • shitty •
a/an cheap/poor/bad/second-rate/inferior copy/imitation
a/an cheap/bad/second-rate/inferior/crap/shit/crappy/shitty product
Synonyms:
cheap
competitive • budget • affordable • reasonable • inexpensive
These words all describe a product or service that costs little money or less money than you expected.
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 sth is 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 sth is good value for its price. It is sometimes used instead of cheap, because cheap can suggest that sth is poor quality.
cheap/competitive/budget/affordable/reasonable prices/fares/rates
cheap/competitive/budget/affordable/inexpensive products/services
Example Bank:
• It's a good restaurant, and incredibly cheap.
• Shoes like that don't come cheap.
• The bag looks cheap and nasty.
• The glasses are plain without looking cheap.
• The school managed to get a couple of computers on the cheap.
• They're selling fabrics cheap this week.
• a brand new radio going cheap
• A quality pair of Italian shoes doesn't come cheap.
• Don't be so cheap!
• He was so generous he made the other guests look cheap.
• He's just trying to score a cheap political advantage.
• He's so cheap, he'd never fly to London in a million years.
• His treatment of her made her feel cheap.
• I was tired of her cheap jokes at my expense.
• It was just a bottle of cheap perfume.
• Italy was a very cheap country to visit in those days.
• She was just too cheap to buy a real present.
• The market has been flooded with cheap imports.
• The printer isn't exactly cheap at £200.
• The room was filled with the smell of cheap perfume.
• The skirt was dirt cheap.
• The town is full of immigrant workers, used as a source of cheap labour.
• They're offering incredibly cheap fares to Eastern Europe.
• They've got brand new CD players going cheap.
• We brought a few cheap and nasty bottles of wine home from holiday.
• We found a cheap and cheerful cafe.
• a cheap floozy/tart/whore
• The watch was suspiciously cheap; it was probably a fake.
• cheap and nasty products with brand names you've never heard of
Idioms: cheap at the price ▪ going cheap ▪ on the cheap ▪ something does not come cheap

Derived Word: cheapness

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

cheap / tʃiːp / adjective (LOW PRICE)

A1 costing little money or less than is usual or expected:

I got a cheap flight at the last minute.

Food is usually cheaper in supermarkets.

Children and the elderly are entitled to cheap train tickets.

The scheme is simple and cheap to operate.

During times of mass unemployment, there's a pool of cheap labour for employers to draw from.

figurative In a war, human life becomes very cheap (= seems to be of little value) .

If a shop or restaurant is cheap, it charges low prices:

I go to the cheapest hairdresser's in town.

cheap and cheerful UK cheap but good or enjoyable:

There's a restaurant round the corner that serves cheap and cheerful food.

on the cheap informal

If you get goods on the cheap, you get them for a low price, often from someone you know who works in the company or business that produces them.

cheap / tʃiːp / adjective (LOW QUALITY)

C1 disapproving describes goods that are both low in quality and low in price:

I bought some cheap wine for cooking with.

He bought some cheap shoes that fell apart after a couple of months.

cheap and nasty UK

costing little and of very bad quality

cheap / tʃiːp / adjective US ( UK mean ) (MEAN)

unwilling to spend money:

He's so cheap he didn't even buy me a card for my birthday.

cheap / tʃiːp / adjective disapproving (DRESSED SEXILY)

If you describe the way a person is dressed as cheap, you mean that it is very obvious that they are trying to sexually attract other people.

cheap / tʃiːp / adjective disapproving (UNKIND)

unpleasant and unkind:

I wish you'd stop making cheap jokes about my friends.

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

cheap

/tʃi:p/
(cheaper, cheapest)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

1.
Goods or services that are cheap cost less money than usual or than you expected.
Smoke detectors are cheap and easy to put up...
Running costs are coming down because of cheaper fuel...
They served breakfast all day and sold it cheap.
≠ expensive, dear
ADJ: v-link ADJ, ADJ n, v n ADJ
• cheap‧ly
It will produce electricity more cheaply than a nuclear plant.
ADV: ADV after v
• cheap‧ness
The cheapness and simplicity of the design makes it ideal for our task.
N-UNCOUNT

2.
If you describe goods as cheap, you mean they cost less money than similar products but their quality is poor.
Don’t resort to cheap copies; save up for the real thing.
...a tight suit made of some cheap material.
= shoddy
ADJ: ADJ n

3.
If you describe someone’s remarks or actions as cheap, you mean that they are unkindly or insincerely using a situation to benefit themselves or to harm someone else.
These tests will inevitably be used by politicians to make cheap political points.
ADJ: ADJ n [disapproval]

4.
If you describe someone as cheap, you are criticizing them for being unwilling to spend money. (AM)
Oh, please, Dad, just this once don’t be cheap.
= mean
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ [disapproval]

5.
If someone does or buys something on the cheap, they spend less money than they should because they are more concerned with what it costs than with its quality. (INFORMAL)
Most modern housing estates are terrible and inevitably done on the cheap.
PHRASE: PHR after v [disapproval]

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

¹cheap /ˈʧiːp/ adj cheap·er; -est
1 a : not costing a lot of money
• I always buy the cheapest brand of cereal.
• a place where you can get a cheap [=inexpensive] meal
• Rent isn't cheap here.
• cheap imported goods
- see also dirt cheap
b : of low quality : not worth a lot of money
• curtains made of cheap material
• He wears a cheap watch that's always breaking.
• cheap perfume
2 : charging low prices
• This gas station is cheaper than the one by the highway.
• We ate at a cheap [=inexpensive] restaurant.
3 : not willing to share or spend money
• He was too cheap [=stingy] to pay for the dinner.
• Don't be cheap—buy good quality tires for your car.
- often + with
• My uncle is cheap with his money.
4 : not hard to do or get
• It was a cheap [=easy] victory over a lousy team.
• He likes to harass the neighbor's dog as a cheap thrill. [=a minor thing done for entertainment]
5 : having little or no self-respect : ashamed of being used, abused, etc., by other people
• He felt cheap letting other people treat him like that.
on the cheap informal : at the lowest possible cost : in a cheap way
• The movie was made on the cheap.
• They built the house on the cheap.
- cheap·ly adv [more ~; most ~]
• It is not easy to live cheaply in this city.
• The radio was cheaply made and didn't last long.
- cheap·ness noun [noncount]
• The cheapness of the stock made it an appealing buy.
• My mother-in-law's cheapness [=stinginess] can be annoying.