# daylight robbery

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/daylight-robbery
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

The practice of cheating or of imposing an exorbitant charge for a product or service; (countable, rare) an instance of this.

## Examples

- Paying ten dollars for a small bottle of water is daylight robbery.
- The hotel charged us fifty dollars for parking, which felt like absolute daylight robbery.
- The sudden increase in subscription fees for a service that offers no new features is nothing short of daylight robbery.

## Origin

From daylight + robbery, originally used literally to refer to robbery occurring in the daytime rather than at night, which was thought to be more audacious or risky. (disputed)

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.