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 Web
Matt Simon / Grist, Quartz, 12 Nov. 2024
The standard plan with ads costs $6.99/month, less than half the cost of the regular standard plan ($15.49/month), and much cheaper than the top-tier premium plan ($22.99/month).
—Emily Dreibelbis Forlini, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024
Clem Chambers, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2024
The firm and a whole host of other renters spent millions adding Tesla and Polestar models to their fleets, only to start selling them off cheap when the problems started mounting.
—Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik, Quartz, 16 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for cheap 
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Adjective
By contrast, solar panels, wind turbines, and appliances like induction stoves only get better — more efficient and cheaper — with time.
—Matt Simon / Grist, Quartz, 12 Nov. 2024
The standard plan with ads costs $6.99/month, less than half the cost of the regular standard plan ($15.49/month), and much cheaper than the top-tier premium plan ($22.99/month).
—Emily Dreibelbis Forlini, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024
Adverb
Ironically the previous government, only a generation late, bemoaned that state of affairs, all the while depending on the situation to keep their borrowing cheap or perhaps at the margin possible.
—Clem Chambers, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2024
The firm and a whole host of other renters spent millions adding Tesla and Polestar models to their fleets, only to start selling them off cheap when the problems started mounting.
—Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik, Quartz, 16 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for cheap
Articles Related to cheap
Dictionary Entries Near cheap
Cite this Entry
“Cheap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cheap. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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