Synonyms of costly

costly

adjective

ˈkȯs(t)-lē 

as in expensive

commanding a large price

running is one sport that does not require a lot of costly equipment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• expensive
• valuable
• precious
• premium
• extravagant
• pricey
• high
• luxurious
• priceless
• high-end
• spendy
• dear
• prohibitive
• big-ticket
• steep
• high-ticket
• exorbitant
• unaffordable
• uneconomic
• unreasonable
• overpriced
• ultraexpensive
• invaluable
• deluxe
• inestimable
• sky-high
• sumptuous
• stiff

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• inexpensive
• cheap
• reasonable
• moderate
• worthless
• valueless
• discounted

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of costly

If the value is strong but the behavior change is too costly, rebuild the path to adoption before rebuilding the product. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Anthropic and OpenAI on Tuesday each announced new, less costly AI models as both frontier labs continue to face stiff competition from cheaper, open-weight competitors. — Kai Nicol-Schwarz,arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026

In other business, Planning and Development Director Tom Cherry persuaded the RDC to postpone seeking bids for demolition of the former Garyton School, a costly endeavor. — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 25 Sep. 2026

In a factory environment, that kind of stability prevents costly downtime. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 25 Sep. 2026