Meaning of cheap In English

• 0 costing little money or less than is usual or expected:

  • I got a cheap flight at the last minute.

  • Food is usually cheaper in supermarkets.

  • Children and the elderly are entitled to cheap train tickets.

  • The system is simple and cheap to operate.

  • During times of mass unemployment, there's a pool of cheap labour for employers to draw from.

  • figurative In a war, human life becomes very cheap (= seems to be of little value).

  • I go to the cheapest hairdresser's in town.

  • There's a restaurant round the corner that serves cheap and cheerful food.

  • Do you like this? I got it for cheap.

  • These are custom software products that sell for cheap.

  • He'll do the work for cheap.

• 1 used to describe goods that are both low in quality and low in price:

  • I bought some cheap wine for cooking with.

  • He bought some cheap shoes that fell apart after a couple of months.

• 2 unwilling to spend money:

  • He's so cheap he didn't even buy me a card for my birthday.

• 3 If you describe the way a person is dressed as cheap, you mean that it is very obvious that they are trying to sexually attract other people.

• 4 unpleasant and unkind:

  • I wish you'd stop making cheap jokes about my friends.

• 5 for little money or for less than is usual:

  • I got some shoes cheap in the sale.

  • There were some chairs in the market going cheap (= they were not expensive).

• 6 costing little money or less than is usual or expected:

  • After World War II, the US had cheap labor, cheap energy, cheap raw materials, cheap housing, cheap food, and cheap transportation.

  • Used computers are dirt cheap (= very cheap).

  • a cheap department store

  • The cheap rug did not come clean.

  • The boss is cheap – he’ll never buy a new truck if he can squeeze a few more miles out of the old one.

• 7 considered to have a low moral character or value:

  • She called him a cheap thug and a liar.

• 8 costing little money or less than is usual or expected:

  • I got a cheap flight at the last minute.

  • Food is usually cheaper in supermarkets.

  • During times of mass unemployment, there's a pool of cheap labour for employers to draw from.

• 9 if a store, restaurant, etc. is cheap, it charges low prices:

  • This is the cheapest office supplies store in the city.

• 10 low in quality and low in price:

  • He bought some cheap shoes that fell apart after a couple of months.

• 11 unwilling to spend money:

  • He's so cheap we didn't get a pay raise this year.

• 12 cheap, but good or enjoyable:

  • There's a restaurant round the corner that serves cheap and cheerful food.

• 13 costing little, and of bad quality:

  • Spend a little more and avoid getting something that is just cheap and nasty.

• 14 for little money, or for less than is usual:

  • buy/sell sth cheap I bought it cheap from an internet auction site.

• 15 to be for sale for less than you would normally expect to pay:

  • Many mortgage deals are going cheap right now.

• 16 if you say that something does not come cheap, you mean that it is of good quality and is therefore expensive:

  • If you want a qualified accountant, their services don't come cheap.

• 17 if something is bought, done, or produced on the cheap, it is bought, etc. for less money than you would normally expect to pay, and is perhaps of poor quality:

  • This site will help you to eat well on the cheap.

  • Much of the refurbishment work has been done on the cheap - and it shows.