expensive

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin *expēnsīvus, from expendō (“to weigh out (money), to pay out”) (whence English expend).[1] By surface analysis, expense +‎ -ive. In the sense of "high-priced" has largely displaced dear.

Pronunciation

  • (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/, /ɛkˈspɛnsɪv/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK, female voice):(file)
  • Audio (UK, male voice):(file)

Adjective

expensive (comparative more expensive, superlative most expensive)

  1. Having a high price or cost.
    Synonyms: costly, high-priced, pricey, dear; see also Thesaurus:expensive
    Antonyms: cheap, inexpensive, low-priced
    • 2006, Edwin Black, “The Plan Against Oil”, in Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives, New York: St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 2:
      If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the ever more expensive and then universally known killing hazards of gasoline cars: air and water pollution, noise and noxiousness, constant coughing and the undeniable rise in cancers caused by smoke exhaust particulates.
    • 2013 June 22, “The G8 summit: T time”, in The Economist‎[1], London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 July 2013:
      In Starbucks’s case, the firm has in effect turned the process of making an expensive cup of coffee into intellectual property.
  2. (computing) Taking a lot of system time or resources.
    an unnecessarily expensive choice of algorithm
  3. (obsolete) Given to expending a lot of money; profligate, lavish.
  4. (cricket) Having a high economy rate.
    Antonym: economical

Usage notes

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ “expensive”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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