as in expensive
commanding a large price
running is one sport that does not require a lot of costly equipment
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Recent Examples of costly
Still one of the NFL’s nastiest division rivalries, the game was full of skirmishes and a near-costly unnecessary roughness penalty late in the third against the Eagles that put the Cowboys in position to take the lead.
—
Dan Gelston, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
England's historic cathedrals are costly to maintain.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2025
The valley has had good water years lately, but in drier times, farmers rely on roundwater reserves, which are more costly to tap and take time to restore.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Anthropologie comes in clutch with a solution, though, in the form of a mouse pad that looks like a costly Persian rug.
—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for costly
Dan Gelston, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025
England's historic cathedrals are costly to maintain.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2025
The valley has had good water years lately, but in drier times, farmers rely on roundwater reserves, which are more costly to tap and take time to restore.
—Jake Goodrick, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Anthropologie comes in clutch with a solution, though, in the form of a mouse pad that looks like a costly Persian rug.
—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for costly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for costly
Adjective
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Washing a couch or sofa, professional carpet and upholstery cleaner Ben Brazell says, is more precarious than carpet cleaning because the upholstery is often a lot more expensive and much easier to damage.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
8 Sep. 2025
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Kelty Low Loveseat At around $130, the Kelty Low Loveseat hits a sweet spot price-wise; substantial enough to feel generous, but not over-the-top expensive.—
Francesca Krempa,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The world’s most valuable digital currency by total market capitalization traded largely between $4,300 and $4,400 on Monday, September 8, after falling to nearly $4,250 the weekend before, according to Coinbase data from TradingView.—
Charles Lloyd Bovaird II,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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That scarcity made the work valuable.—
Chris Schembra,
Rolling Stone,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Costly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/costly. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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