cheap

Meaning

Adj

1. Low or reduced in price.
2. Of poor quality.
3. Of little worth.
4. (slang) Underhanded or unfair.
5. (derogatory, informal) Stingy; mean; excessively frugal.
6. Trading at a price level which is low relative to historical trends, a similar asset, or (for derivatives) a theoretical value.
7. Taking little of system time or resources.

Noun

1. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering.
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A market; marketplace.
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Price.
4. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) A low price; a bargain.
5. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Cheapness; lowness of price; abundance of supply.

Verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To trade; traffic; bargain; chaffer; ask the price of goods; cheapen goods.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To bargain for; chaffer for; ask the price of; offer a price for; cheapen.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To buy; purchase.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To sell.

Adv

Cheaply.

Opposite of

expensive, dear, costly, pricey, affordable, attainable, bargain, budget, cheap, discount, economical, econo-, inexpensive, jitney, low-end, low-priced, nickel, value, precious, valuable, ;, invaluable, priceless, rich, overvalued, overpriced

Synonyms

inexpensive

worthless

low-priced

shoddy

low

vulgar

chintzy

easy

tacky

cut-price

lightweight

cheaply

tawdry

low-cost

tatty

poor

sleazy

crummy

stingy

shabby

brassy

bargain

common

punk

reasonable

cheesy

miserly

flash

ignoble

inferior

chinchy

tinny

bum

worldly-minded

simple

rubbishy

bad

👎

flashy

petty

fitting

mean

meretricious

advantageous

economical

loud

inexpensiveness

gimcrack

at a good price

humble

base

Translations

bon marché

barato

billig

goedkoop

economico

φτηνός

barato

pas cher

preiswert

barat

vilis

économique

ucuz

à bon marché

Pronounced as (IPA)

/t͡ʃip/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cheep

Inherited from Old English: cēap

Cognate with Scots: chepe

Cognate with Northern Frisian: keap

Cognate with Western Frisian: keap

Cognate with Dutch: koop

Cognate with Low German: kopen

Cognate with German: Kauf

Cognate with Swedish: köp

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: kjøpa

Cognate with Icelandic: kaup

Cognate with Finnish: kauppa

Cognate with Russian: купить

Cognate with Church Slavic: коупити

Cognate with Bulgarian: ку́пя

Cognate with Serbo-Croatian: купити

Cognate with Czech: koupit

Cognate with Polish: kupić

In summary

As a noun, from Middle English chep, from Old English cēap (“trade, market, value”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaup. As a verb, from Middle English chepen, from Old English ċēapian (“to buy, bargain, trade”), from Proto-West Germanic *kaupōn, from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną, a verbal derivative of *kaupô (“trader”), from Latin caupō.
The adjective originated as a shortening of Middle and Early Modern English good cheap, literally “good purchase” (as in “that was good cheap”, i.e. “that was [a] good purchase”). Compare Dutch goedkoop, French bon marché.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots chepe (“to sell”), chape (“sale price”), North Frisian keap (“purchase”), West Frisian keap (“purchase, buy, acquisition”), Dutch koop (“buy, purchase, deal”), kopen (“to buy, purchase, shop”), Low German kopen (“to buy”), German Kauf (“trade, traffic, bargain, purchase, buy”), kaufen (“to buy”), Swedish köp (“bargain, purchase”), köpa (“to buy, purchase”), Norwegian Nynorsk kjøpa (“to buy, purchase”), Icelandic kaup (“purchase, bargain”), kaupa (“to purchase”); also borrowed as Finnish kauppa (“shop, trade”), Russian купить (kupitʹ, “to purchase”), Old Church Slavonic коупити (kupiti, “to purchase”), Bulgarian ку́пя (kúpja, “to purchase”), Serbo-Croatian купити (“to purchase”), Czech koupit (“to purchase”), Polish kupić (“to purchase”).