cheap

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cheap

not expensive; poor; shoddy

Not to be confused with:

cheep – to chirp or peep

cheap

(chēp)

adj. cheap·er, cheap·est

a. Relatively low in cost; inexpensive or comparatively inexpensive.

b. Charging low prices: a cheap restaurant.

a. Obtainable at a low rate of interest. Used especially of money.

b. Devalued, as in buying power: cheap dollars.

3. Achieved with little effort: a cheap victory; cheap laughs.

4. Of or considered of small value: in wartime, when life was cheap.

5. Of poor quality; inferior: a cheap toy.

6. Worthy of no respect; vulgar or contemptible: a cheap gangster.

7. Stingy; miserly.

adv. cheaper, cheapest

Inexpensively: got the new car cheap.

Idioms:

cheap at twice the price

Extremely inexpensive.

on the cheap

By inexpensive means; cheaply: traveled to Europe on the cheap.

[From Middle English (god) chep, (good) price, purchase, bargain, from Old English cēap, trade, from Latin caupō, shopkeeper.]

cheap′ly adv.

cheap′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cheap

(tʃiːp)

adj

1. costing relatively little; inexpensive; good value

2. charging low prices: a cheap hairdresser.

3. of poor quality; shoddy: cheap furniture; cheap and nasty.

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 chip¹¹

10. dirt cheap informal extremely inexpensive

on the cheap informal Brit at a low cost

adv

at very little cost

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

ˈcheapish adj

ˈcheaply adv

ˈcheapness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cheap

(tʃip)

adj. -er, -est,
adv., n. adj.

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

2. charging low prices: a cheap store.

3. shoddy or inferior.

4. costing little labor or trouble: Talk is cheap.

5. mean or contemptible: a cheap joke.

6. of little account or value: Life was cheap.

7. embarrassed; sheepish.

8. stingy; miserly.

9. (of money) able to be borrowed at low interest.

10. of decreased value or purchasing power.

adv.

11. at a low price or small cost.

12. on the cheap, inexpensively; economically.

Idiom.

[before 900; Middle English chep (short for phrases, as god chep(e) inexpensive), Old English cēap bargain, < Latin caupō innkeeper, tradesman; compare chapman]

cheap′ly, adv.

cheap′ness, n.

syn: cheap, inexpensive agree in their suggestion of low cost. cheap now often suggests shoddiness, inferiority, showy imitation, unworthiness, and the like: a cheap fabric. 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 pejorative cheap.

cheap

– cheaply

1. 'cheap' as an adjective

Cheap goods or services cost less than other goods or services of the same type.

...cheap red wine.

...cheap plastic buckets.

A solid fuel cooker is cheap to run.

2. 'cheap' as an adverb

In conversation, cheap can also be an adverb, but only with verbs which refer to the buying, selling, or hiring of things.

I thought you got it very cheap.

You can hire boots pretty cheap.

3. 'cheaply'

With other verbs, the adverb you use is cheaply.

You can play golf comparatively cheaply.

In fact you can travel just as cheaply by British Airways.

4. 'low'

You do not say that things such as wages, costs, or payments are 'cheap'. You say that they are low.

If your family has a low income, you can apply for a student grant.

...tasty meals at a fairly low cost.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	cheap - relatively low in price or charging low prices; "it would have been cheap at twice the price"; "inexpensive family restaurants" inexpensive expensive - high in price or charging high prices; "expensive clothes"; "an expensive shop"
	2.	cheap - tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments" flash, flashy, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, tawdry, trashy, brassy, loud, meretricious, tacky, tatty tasteless - lacking aesthetic or social taste
	3.	cheap - of very poor quality; flimsy bum, cheesy, chintzy, crummy, punk, sleazy, tinny colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech inferior - of low or inferior quality
	4.	cheap - embarrassingly stingy chinchy, chintzy stingy, ungenerous - unwilling to spend; "she practices economy without being stingy"; "an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds"

cheap

adjective

1. inexpensive, sale, economy, reduced, keen, reasonable, bargain, low-priced, low-cost, cut-price, economical, cheapo (informal) Smoke detectors are cheap and easy to put up. People want good service at a cheap price.
inexpensive dear, expensive, steep, costly, pricey (informal)

2. inferior, poor, worthless, second-rate, shoddy, tawdry, tatty, trashy, substandard, low-rent (informal, chiefly U.S.), two-bit (U.S. & Canad. slang), crappy (slang), two a penny, rubbishy, dime-a-dozen (informal), piss-poor (slang), tinhorn (U.S. slang) Don't resort to cheap copies; save up for the real thing.
inferior good, valuable, decent, superior, elegant, admirable, high-class, tasteful

3. (Informal) despicable, mean, low, base, vulgar, sordid, contemptible, scurvy, scungy (Austral. & N.Z.) That was a cheap trick to play on anyone.
despicable good, decent, generous, charitable, admirable, honourable

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

cheap

adjective

1. Low in price:

inexpensive, low, low-cost, low-priced.

2. Of decidedly inferior quality:

base, lousy, miserable, paltry, poor, rotten, shoddy, sleazy, trashy.

Informal: cheesy.

Slang: crummy, schlocky.

3. Ungenerously or pettily reluctant to spend money:

close, close-fisted, costive, hard-fisted, mean, miserly, niggard, niggardly, parsimonious, penny-pinching, penurious, petty, pinching, stingy, tight, tightfisted.

Translations

Spanish / Español

Select a language:

barato malo ordinario

cheap

[tʃiːp]

A. ADJ (cheaper (compar) (cheapest (superl)))

1. (= inexpensive) [goods, labour, shop, ticket] → barato; [imports] → a bajo precio; [loan, credit] → a bajo interés
it's ten pence cheaper → es diez peniques más barato
it's cheaper to buy than to rent → sale más económico or barato comprar que alquilar
gas cookers are cheaper to run → las cocinas de gas salen or resultan más económicas
these cars are very cheap to produce → la fabricación de estos coches sale muy barata
cheap labour → mano f de obra barata
cheap money → dinero m barato
dresses at ridiculously cheap prices → vestidos a unos precios regalados
it's cheap at the price → está bien de precio, es barato para lo que es
that's cheap at half the price! → ¡es más que regalado!
cheap rate → tarifa f reducida
cheap and cheerful → bueno, bonito y barato
see also dirt-cheap

2. (= poor-quality) [product] → barato, corriente
beware of cheap imitations! → ¡esté al tanto de imitaciones baratas!
cheap and nasty → ordinario, chabacano

3. (= vulgar, mean) [joke] → ordinario, chabacano; [behaviour, tactics] → rastrero; [remark, question] → de mal gusto; [opportunism, sensationalism] → barato; [promises] → fácil
a cheap laugh → la risa fácil
cheap thrills → placeres mpl baratos
a cheap trick → una mala pasada

4. (= not deserving respect) → bajo, indigno
to feel cheap → sentirse humillado
they hold life cheap there → allí la vida no vale nada
to look cheap → parecer ordinario, tener un aspecto ordinario
to make o.s. cheap → rebajarse, humillarse

B. ADV [buy, sell] → barato
it's going cheap → se vende barato
quality doesn't come cheap → la calidad hay que pagarla

C. N on the cheap [decorate, travel] → en plan barato
to do sth on the cheap → hacer algo en plan barato
to buy or get sth on the cheap → comprar algo por poco dinero or a bajo precio

D. CPD cheap shot N → golpe m bajo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cheap

(tʃiːp) adjective

1. low in price. Eggs are cheap just now.barato

2. of poor quality; vulgar; contemptible. cheap jewellery; a cheap trick.ordinario

ˈcheaply adverb

barato, a bajo precio

ˈcheapness noun

baratura, vulgaridad

cheap

→ barato

cheap

a. barato-a.

References in classic literature ?

I now by instinct followed the streets that took me waterward, for there, doubtless, were the cheapest, if not the cheeriest inns.

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We called for a deck of cards and sat down at a table and played euchre for an hour, in which time Louis treated once, and I treated once, to beer--the cheapest drink, ten cents for two.

View in context

But an English Bible as a whole did not exist; and if to-day it is the commonest and cheapest book in all the land, it is to John Wyclif in the first place that we owe it.

View in context

He had tried to arrange this part of their expenses in the best and cheapest way possible; but it appeared that their own horses came dearer than hired horses, and they still hired too.

View in context

Moss; but to all his requirements of household economy she was submissive to the point of denying herself the cheapest indulgences of mere flavor; her only rebellion was to smuggle into the kitchen something that would make rather a better supper than usual for Tom.

View in context

Life is the cheapest thing in Caspak, as it is the cheapest thing on earth and, doubtless, the cheapest cosmic production.

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Why, if there is anything in supply and demand, life is the cheapest thing in the world.

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Once or twice Philip persuaded him to share the scrappy meal he prepared for himself in the evening, but Cronshaw was too restless to stay in, and preferred generally to get himself something to eat in one or other of the cheapest restaurants in Soho.

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She took off the glove and raised the ring to her lips, though I doubt not it was the cheapest trinket.

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"Little woman, even if you did cost thirty millions, you are sure the cheapest necessity of life I ever indulged in." And then he added, "Yes, I do have one regret, and a monstrous big one, too.

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The cheapest poison will do.-- Is it possible, Henry, that you believe this consultation really took place?'

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Of course I know, and it's only seven cents more, and the dearest is the cheapest, I say.

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