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[ ik-spen-siv ]
/ ɪkˈspɛn sɪv /
This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
adjective
entailing great expense; very high-priced; costly: an expensive party.
QUIZ
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Origin of expensive
First recorded in 1620–30; expense + -ive
synonym study for expensive
Expensive, costly, dear, high-priced apply to something that is high in price. Expensive is applied to whatever entails considerable expense; it suggests a price more than the average person would normally be able to pay or a price paid only for something special: an expensive automobile. Costly implies that the price is a large sum, usually because of the fineness, preciousness, etc., of the object: a costly jewel. Dear is commonly applied in England to something that is selling beyond its usual or just price. In the U.S., high-priced is the usual equivalent.
OTHER WORDS FROM expensive
ex·pen·sive·ly, adverbex·pen·sive·ness, nounqua·si-ex·pen·sive, adjectivequa·si-ex·pen·sive·ly, adverb
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH expensive
expansive, expensive
Words nearby expensive
expend, expendable, expenditure, expense, expense account, expensive, experience, experienced, Experience is the best teacher, experience meeting, experience point
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
MORE ABOUT EXPENSIVE
What does expensive mean?
Expensive means something is high priced or costs a lot of money.
Expensive is most often applied to items with very high prices, such as luxury cars. But it can also be used to describe things whose price or cost is simply high compared to others.
Example: I like it, but it’s just too expensive. Do you have any lower-priced models?
Where does expensive come from?
The first records of expensive come from the 1620s. It is the adjective form of the older noun expense, which means “cost” or “something that needs to be paid for.” Expense derives from the Latin verb expendere, meaning “to expend” (“to pay out or spend”). The suffix -ive makes expensive an adjective.
Most often, things are described as expensive when they always have a high price, like mansions and designer dresses, or a high cost, like weddings. Of course, what one person considers expensive may be inexpensive to another person. It depends on how much a person is willing to spend and how much money they have. Sometimes, expensive means that the price or cost of something seems high compared to similar items. For example, $5 might not be a high price in general, but it would be considered pretty expensive for a single apple. Such a thing would often be called overpriced.
Did you know … ?
How is expensive used in real life?
Expensive is a relative term, usually depending on how much money someone has. But it is always used in relation to how much something costs.
The FDA recently approved 2 transformative new treatments for sickle-cell disease, the first in 20 years. But the drugs are wildly expensive, renewing troubling questions about access to cutting-edge medicines. https://t.co/9AqXjtj5Qz
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 8, 2019
I really want to get back into photography but camera equipment is way too expensive 😅
— 𝒮𝒶𝓇𝒶 (@SaraRenae15) March 6, 2020
i just bought lettuce for $3, isn’t that a little expensive for a ball of leaves
— cheryl (@sheryourk) November 12, 2019
Try using expensive!
Which of the following things is most likely to be described as expensive?
A. gumball
B. generic shampoo
C. luxury car
D. half-price socks
Words related to expensive
costly, extravagant, fancy, high, lavish, overpriced, pricey, upscale, valuable, an arm and a leg, at a premium, big-ticket, dear, excessive, exorbitant, highway robbery, holdup, immoderate, inordinate, invaluable
How to use expensive in a sentence
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This is why affiliate businesses and licensing deals with manufacturers who can make and distribute the products on their own are often times the most appealing and less expensive routes for publishers, she said.
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Many consumers, though, viewed it as a ploy to boost sales of newer and more expensive iPhones.
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What Blink Health set out to do, as Fortune has previously reported, is bypass the middlemen who make drugs more expensive.
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Pharma companies favor expensive medicines that must be taken repeatedly and generate revenue for years or decades.
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Well, first and foremost, it’s more expensive to design sustainably and it’s more expensive to design so that there isn’t an obvious loser in the situation.
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We indulge in expensive cold-pressed juices and SoulCycle classes, justifying these purchases as investments in our health.
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Expensive day care pushes women out of the labor market while men continue to work outside the home.
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Community policing is expensive and, in an era of budget cuts, increasingly rare.
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Some medicines, like HIV drugs, are very expensive, as most them are under brand names.
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Even local chickens were more expensive than in the summer, Smirnova and another woman at the counter complained.
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W was a Watchman, and guarded the door; X was expensive, and so became poor.
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Magnums of the driest and most expensive champagne seemed to be the favourite beverage.
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You may take my word for it that pigs are far more interesting and far more respectable, though they’re expensive, mind you.
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Play-writing is a luxury to a journalist, as insidious as golf and much more expensive in time and money.
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It was possible that no insurance company would take the risk on an expensive building in such a quarter.
British Dictionary definitions for expensive
adjective
high-priced; costly; dear
Derived forms of expensive
expensively, adverbexpensiveness, noun
Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
дорогой, дорогостоящий
прилагательное ↓
- дорогой, дорогостоящий
expensive clothes — дорогая одежда 
expensive furs — ценные меха
expensive education — образование, стоившее больших денег
expensive indulgence — образн. потворство, которое дорого обошлось
to be too expensive for one’s pocketbook — быть не по карману
- расточительный
expensive man — расточительный человек
he has an expensive wife — жена ему дорого обходится; жена заставляет его много тратить
- (of) требующий больших затрат
expensive of time — требующий слишком много времени
expensive of health — подрывающий здоровье
Мои примеры
Словосочетания
an expensive piece of medical equipment — дорогое медицинское оборудование
women wearing expensive jewelry and minks — женщины в дорогих украшениях и норковых шубах
a pair of expensive handmade shoes — пара дорогой обуви ручной работы
expensive store — дорогой магазин
expensive big car, full of gadgets — большая дорогая машина с наворотами
these again are more expensive — но эти, с другой стороны, дороже
elegant women, swathed in expensive furs — элегантные женщины, одетые в дорогие меха
the better quality of … is … more expensive — товар более высокого качества стоит дороже
she has expensive tastes in clothes — она любит носить дорогие вещи
combine expensive — обходиться дорого
it will come very expensive to you — это станет вам очень дорого
accommodation is expensive here — гостиницы здесь дорогие; квартиры здесь дорогие
Примеры с переводом
She’s always expensively dressed.
Она всегда дорого одета. (одета в дорогую одежду)
It’s more expensive to live in the city than in the country.
В городе жить намного дороже, чем в деревне.
It’s bleeding expensive.
Это чертовски дорого.
Petrol is becoming more and more expensive.
Бензин становится всё дороже и дороже.
Photography is an expensive hobby.
Фотографирование — это дорогое увлечение.
Don’t worry about the expensive wine—I’m treating
Не беспокойся, что вино дорогое … я угощаю.
Everything is so damn expensive.
Всё чертовски дорого.
ещё 23 примера свернуть
Примеры, ожидающие перевода
It’s a tad expensive. 
Rents in midtown are very expensive.
Parisian restaurants can be expensive
Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.
Возможные однокоренные слова
The adjective expensive means high in price, like the expensive basketball sneakers you had to work all summer to save up enough money to buy.
Expensive comes from the 1620s, when it meant «given to profuse expenditure.» Back then, it was the people doing the buying who got called «expensive.» Now it’s the costly things they buy or take part in. For example, sailing is an expensive hobby. If someone tells you, «I have expensive taste,» it means that person likes things that cost a lot of money, whether they are purchased or just admired from the shop window.
Definitions of expensive
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adjective
high in price or charging high prices
“expensive clothes”
“an
expensive shop”-
Synonyms:
-
big-ticket, high-ticket
very expensive
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costly, dear, high-priced, pricey, pricy
having a high price
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costly, dearly-won
entailing great loss or sacrifice
-
overpriced
too costly for the value
-
valuable
having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange
see moresee less-
Antonyms:
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cheap, inexpensive
relatively low in price or charging low prices
-
bargain-priced, cut-price, cut-rate
costing less than standard price
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catchpenny
designed to sell quickly without concern for quality
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dirt cheap
very cheap
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low-budget
made on or suited to a limited budget
-
affordable, low-cost, low-priced
that you have the financial means for
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nickel-and-dime
low-paying
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sixpenny, threepenny, tuppeny, two-a-penny, twopenny, twopenny-halfpenny
of trifling worth
- show more antonyms…
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big-ticket, high-ticket
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘expensive’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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1
expensive
Англо-русский словарь Мюллера > expensive
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2
expensive
Персональный Сократ > expensive
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3
expensive
[ıkʹspensıv]
1. дорогой, дорогостоящий
expensive education — образование, стоившее больших денег
1) расточительный
he has an expensive wife — жена ему дорого обходится; жена заставляет его много тратить
2) (of) требующий больших затрат
НБАРС > expensive
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4
expensive
1. a дорогой, дорогостоящий
2. a редк. расточительный
3. a редк. требующий больших затрат
Синонимический ряд:
costly (adj.) costly; dear; excessive; exorbitant; extravagant; high; high-priced; precious; priceless; uneconomical; valuable
Антонимический ряд:
English-Russian base dictionary > expensive
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5
expensive
English-Russian combinatory dictionary > expensive
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6
expensive
[ɪksˈpensɪv]
expensive дорогой, дорогостоящий expensive дорогой expensive дорогостоящий make more expensive повышать в цене
English-Russian short dictionary > expensive
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7
expensive
English-Russian big medical dictionary > expensive
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8
expensive
ɪksˈpensɪv прил. дорогой, дорогостоящий, ценный It’s more expensive to live in the city than in the country. ≈ В городе жить дороже, чем в деревне. Syn: costly, dear, high-priced, over-priced Ant: economical, inexpensive
дорогой, дорогостоящий — * clothes дорогая одежда — * furs ценные меха — * education образование, стоившее больших денег — * indulgence (образное) потворство, которое дорого обошлось — to be too * for one’s pocketbook быть не по карману (редкое) расточительный — * man расточительный человек — he has an * wife жена ему дорого обходится;
жена заставляет его много тратить (of) требующий больших затрат — * of time требующий слишком много времени — * of health подрывающий здоровье
expensive дорогой, дорогостоящий ~ дорогой ~ дорогостоящий
make more ~ повышать в ценеБольшой англо-русский и русско-английский словарь > expensive
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9
expensive
прил.
1)
,
торг.
дорогой, дорогостоящий
Syn:
Ant:
Syn:
Ant:
* * *
дорогой, дорогостоящий.Англо-русский экономический словарь > expensive
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10
expensive
2000 самых употребительных английских слов > expensive
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expensive
Англо-русский синонимический словарь > expensive
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expensive
English-Russian word troubles > expensive
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expensive
[ɪk’spen(t)sɪv], [ek-]
прил.
дорогой, дорогостоящий, ценный
It’s more expensive to live in the city than in the country. — В городе жить намного дороже, чем в деревне.
Syn:
Ant:
Англо-русский современный словарь > expensive
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14
expensive
[ɪk’spensɪv]
2) Разговорное выражение: накладно
3) Редкое выражение: ( of) требующий больших затрат, расточительный
Универсальный англо-русский словарь > expensive
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15
expensive
[ɪks`pensɪv]
дорогой, дорогостоящий, ценный
Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь > expensive
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16
expensive
adjective
дорогой, дорогостоящий
Syn:
costly, dear, high-priced, over-priced
Ant:
economical, inexpensive
* * *
(a) дорогостоящий
* * *
дорогой, дорогостоящий
* * *
[ex’pen·sive || -sɪv]
дорогой, дорогостоящий* * *
дорогой
дорогостоящий
ценный
* * *
дорогой
Новый англо-русский словарь > expensive
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17
expensive
Англо-русский словарь по экономике и финансам > expensive
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18
expensive
дорогой; дорогостоящий; ценный
English-Russian dictionary of technical terms > expensive
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19
expensive
adj
дорогой, дорогостоящий
English-russian dctionary of contemporary Economics > expensive
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20
expensive
English-russian dctionary of diplomacy > expensive
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См. также в других словарях:
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expensive — ex‧pen‧sive [ɪkˈspensɪv] adjective 1. costing a lot of money: • expensive computer equipment • Many manufacturers would find setting up their own High Street stores prohibitively expensive (= so expensive that they could not afford it ) . 2.… … Financial and business terms
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Expensive — Ex*pen sive, a. 1. Occasioning expense; calling for liberal outlay; costly; dear; liberal; as, expensive dress; an expensive house or family. [1913 Webster] War is expensive, and peace desirable. Burke. [1913 Webster] 2. Free in expending; very… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
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expensive — index exorbitant, invaluable, priceless, prohibitive (costly), valuable Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
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expensive — 1620s, given to profuse expenditure, from EXPENSE (Cf. expense) + IVE (Cf. ive). Meaning costly is from 1630s. Earlier was expenseful (c.1600). Expenseless was in use mid 17c. 18c., but there seems nothing now to which it applies, and the… … Etymology dictionary
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expensive — *costly, dear, valuable, precious, invaluable, priceless Analogous words: exorbitant, extravagant, *excessive, immoderate Antonyms: inexpensive … New Dictionary of Synonyms
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expensive — [adj] high priced an arm and a leg*, at a premium, big ticket*, costly, dear, excessive, exorbitant, extravagant, fancy, high, highway robbery*, holdup*, immoderate, inordinate, invaluable, lavish, out of sight*, overpriced, plush, posh, pretty… … New thesaurus
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expensive — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ costing a lot of money. DERIVATIVES expensively adverb expensiveness noun … English terms dictionary
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expensive — [ek spen′siv, ikspen′siv] adj. requiring or involving much expense; high priced; dear SYN. COSTLY expensively adv. expensiveness n … English World dictionary
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expensive — ex|pen|sive W2S1 [ıkˈspensıv] adj costing a lot of money ≠ ↑cheap ▪ the most expensive restaurant in town ▪ Petrol is becoming more and more expensive. ▪ Photography is an expensive hobby. expensive to buy/run/produce/maintain etc ▪ The house was … Dictionary of contemporary English
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expensive — /Ik spensIv/ adjective 1 costing a lot of money: That s a very expensive camera. Is it insured? | the most expensive restaurant in town | expensive to produce/run/buy etc: Cadillacs are beautiful cars but expensive to run. | prohibitively… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
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expensive — adj. VERBS ▪ be, look, prove, seem, sound ▪ Her suit looked extremely expensive. ▪ become, get … Collocations dictionary
1 : involving high cost or sacrifice an expensive hobby. 2a : commanding a high price and especially one that is not based on intrinsic worth or is beyond a prospective buyer’s means. b : characterized by high prices expensive shops.
What does it mean when someone calls you expensive?
The adjective expensive means high in price, like the expensive basketball sneakers you had to work all summer to save up enough money to buy. If someone tells you, “I have expensive taste,” it means that person likes things that cost a lot of money, whether they are purchased or just admired from the shop window.
What is make sentence of expensive?
“I like it best, but it’s so expensive ,” she said. Expensive cars lined the long drive to the mansion overlooking the hills. The most expensive one was her favorite, but she selected the least expensive . Publishing was expensive , and by the time news of the lie came out, days or weeks had passed.
What type of word is expensive?
having a high price, cost.
What is the world’s most expensive?
What are some of the most expensive things in world today?
- Graff Diamonds Hallucination Watch – USD 55 million.
- 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO – USD 70 million.
- Bluefin Tuna – USD 3.1 million.
- Antilia, Mumbai – USD 1-2 billion.
- Manhattan Parking Spot – USD 1 million.
- Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi – USD 450 million.
What is it called when you like expensive things?
sybarite Add to list Share. If you know someone who’s totally addicted to luxurious things and all of life’s pleasures, call her a sybarite.
What is the sentence of famous?
“He visited a famous landmark on his trip.” “A famous scholar is visiting our school this week.” “There are many famous people in town this week.” “She recognized the famous song.”
How do you use ban in a sentence?
Examples of ban in a Sentence Verb The school banned that book for many years. The city has banned smoking in all public buildings. The drug was banned a decade ago. The use of cell phones is banned in the restaurant.
What is another word for beautiful?
admirable, adorable, alluring, angelic, appealing, beauteous, bewitching, captivating, charming, classy, comely, cute, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enthralling, enticing, excellent, exquisite, fair, fascinating, fetching, fine, foxy, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, grand, handsome, ideal, inviting …
What is the cheapest item in the world?
The answer is: wheat. Actually, the entire agriculture complex, including corn, beef, pork and beans could fit this description.
What does Boojie mean?
boojie in American English (ˈbuːdʒi) adjective. slang. haughty; elitist; snobbish. Word origin.
What does Buji mean?
Meaning. safety; security; peace; quietness.
How do you answer why is it so expensive?
WHAT TO ANSWER WHEN CUSTOMER SAY “IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE”
- Look at him/her in the eyes and make sure you are serious.
- Ask: Compared to what?
- Ask him/her, what is his/her budget?
- Answer with client examples.
- Question about the situation.
What is the definition for famous?
1a : widely known a restaurant famous for its French cuisine. b : honored for achievement a famous explorer. 2 : excellent, first-rate famous weather for a walk.
What is a famous person called?
1. famous person – a widely known person; “he was a baseball celebrity” celebrity. immortal – a person (such as an author) of enduring fame; “Shakespeare is one of the immortals” important person, influential person, personage – a person whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events.
What does being banned mean?
When something is banned, it’s illegal or not allowed. If you’re wearing a banned t-shirt to school, it means there’s a rule forbidding that particular kind of shirt.
What does it mean expansive?
1 : having a capacity or a tendency to expand. 2 : causing or tending to cause expansion. 3a : characterized by high spirits, generosity, or readiness to talk : open grew expansive after dinner.
“I like it best, but it’s so expensive ,” she said. Expensive cars lined the long drive to the mansion overlooking the hills. The most expensive one was her favorite, but she selected the least expensive .
How do you respond when someone says your price is too high?
33 Responses to the Sales Objection, “Your Price Is Too High”
- Wait for the prospect to finish speaking.
- Pause for 3-5 seconds.
- Ask a question.
- Pose a follow-up question.
- Summarize their objection in 2-3 sentences.
- Clarify if you missed anything.
- Diffuse their concern.
How do you politely say something is too expensive?
So below are the phrases to talk about things that are high priced.
- That’s a bit steep – This phrase suggests that something is little more expensive.
- That’s a bit pricey –
- Cost an arm and leg –
- To pay through the nose –
- Exorbitant –
- Daylight robbery –
- Break the bank –
- Pay top dollar-
Is expansive a feeling?
If you are expansive, you talk a lot, or are friendly or generous, because you are feeling happy and relaxed. He was becoming more expansive as he relaxed.
What is an expansive affect?
Expansive Affect. Definition: Overly-exaggerated expression of an emotion or mood.