1
a
: charging or obtainable at a low price
a good cheap hotel
cheap tickets
b
: purchasable below the going price or the real value
c
: depreciated in value (as by currency inflation)
cheap dollars
2
3
: gained or done with little effort
a cheap victory
talk is cheap
4
of money
: obtainable at a low rate of interest
: for little cost : cheaply
was able to buy it cheap
"It all seems to centre round that bust of Napoleon which I bought for this very room about four months ago. I picked it up cheap from Harding Brothers, two doors from the High Street Station."—
Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
obsolete
: bargain see also for cheap, on the cheap
Synonyms
Examples of cheap in a Sentence
Adjective
I always buy the cheapest brand of cereal.
curtains made of cheap material
He wears a cheap watch that's always breaking.
This gas station is cheaper than the one by the highway.
Don't be cheap—buy good quality tires for your car.
Recent Examples on the WebEleanor Pringle, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024
China has sharply ramped up its production of cheap electric vehicles, solar panels, and batteries just as the Biden administration has pushed through legislation supporting many of those same industries in the United States.
—Christopher Rugaber, Quartz, 8 Apr. 2024
In the face of the sun's powerful rays, regular sunglasses made of cheap plastic and polycarbonate material just aren't going to cut it.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024
But the positive tone has been undercut by rising concerns in Europe and the United States about a surge of cheap Chinese exports — most notably green technologies but also electronic appliances and steel — that could put international competitors out of business.
—Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
However, manual models can be cheaper and may still have companion apps that automatically sync and store data.
—Latifah Miles, Parents, 8 Apr. 2024
How to find the cheapest fuel Mesa Pickleball complex among new businesses coming to metro Phoenix shopping centers Help for struggling Arizona renters is out there.
—Catherine Reagor, The Arizona Republic, 6 Apr. 2024
Last month, von der Leyen joined the launch of the European Industrial Deal, an initiative supported by almost 1,000 businesses, unions and associations urging cheaper energy, less red tape and more clean-tech funding.
—Ewa Krukowska, Fortune Europe, 5 Apr. 2024
Musk has said that allowing Chinese companies to sell cheap EVs in the United States would be a death sentence for domestic automakers like his own.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 5 Apr. 2024
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2024
So, now is not the time to go cheap on the FBI or the Department of Defense.
—ABC News, 24 Dec. 2023
Wall Street complains because higher rates add risk to otherwise painless ways to make gobs of money by borrowing cheap and lending long.
—Scott Burns, Dallas News, 29 Aug. 2023
Musk ultimately wants to make space travel cheap enough that even Average Joes can access the cosmos—or Mars.
—Lauren Sigfusson, Discover Magazine, 20 Feb. 2018
But flying cheap doesn’t matter much if there isn’t anywhere good to fly.
—Alexandra Skores, Dallas News, 13 Apr. 2023
Low interest rates put in place to support the economy after the Great Recession made borrowing cheap and pushed investors to seek out higher returns from riskier companies, spurring financing and growth for tech companies.
—Joe Rennison Eli Murray, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023
Lemieux was on the ice to hoist it, receiving only a two-game suspension for cheap-shotting Draper.
—Viv Bernstein, Detroit Free Press, 29 May 2021
The tree was usually found on land that had been given away or sold cheap by the federal government—and then had to be repurchased at very high cost.
—Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2023
Adjective
Meanwhile, youth unemployment is at record highs while price-conscious consumers are forcing investment away from more premium brands toward cheaper alternatives.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024
China has sharply ramped up its production of cheap electric vehicles, solar panels, and batteries just as the Biden administration has pushed through legislation supporting many of those same industries in the United States.
—Christopher Rugaber, Quartz, 8 Apr. 2024
In the face of the sun's powerful rays, regular sunglasses made of cheap plastic and polycarbonate material just aren't going to cut it.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024
But the positive tone has been undercut by rising concerns in Europe and the United States about a surge of cheap Chinese exports — most notably green technologies but also electronic appliances and steel — that could put international competitors out of business.
—Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024
However, manual models can be cheaper and may still have companion apps that automatically sync and store data.
—Latifah Miles, Parents, 8 Apr. 2024
How to find the cheapest fuel Mesa Pickleball complex among new businesses coming to metro Phoenix shopping centers Help for struggling Arizona renters is out there.
—Catherine Reagor, The Arizona Republic, 6 Apr. 2024
Last month, von der Leyen joined the launch of the European Industrial Deal, an initiative supported by almost 1,000 businesses, unions and associations urging cheaper energy, less red tape and more clean-tech funding.
—Ewa Krukowska, Fortune Europe, 5 Apr. 2024
Musk has said that allowing Chinese companies to sell cheap EVs in the United States would be a death sentence for domestic automakers like his own.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 5 Apr. 2024
Adverb
As with drones, militants used cheap, often off-the-shelf materials to build weapons that exploited a Pentagon vulnerability.
—Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2024
So, now is not the time to go cheap on the FBI or the Department of Defense.
—ABC News, 24 Dec. 2023
Wall Street complains because higher rates add risk to otherwise painless ways to make gobs of money by borrowing cheap and lending long.
—Scott Burns, Dallas News, 29 Aug. 2023
Musk ultimately wants to make space travel cheap enough that even Average Joes can access the cosmos—or Mars.
—Lauren Sigfusson, Discover Magazine, 20 Feb. 2018
But flying cheap doesn’t matter much if there isn’t anywhere good to fly.
—Alexandra Skores, Dallas News, 13 Apr. 2023
Low interest rates put in place to support the economy after the Great Recession made borrowing cheap and pushed investors to seek out higher returns from riskier companies, spurring financing and growth for tech companies.
—Joe Rennison Eli Murray, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023
Lemieux was on the ice to hoist it, receiving only a two-game suspension for cheap-shotting Draper.
—Viv Bernstein, Detroit Free Press, 29 May 2021
The tree was usually found on land that had been given away or sold cheap by the federal government—and then had to be repurchased at very high cost.
—Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cheap.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Cheap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cheap. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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