# highway robbery

idiom

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

## Meaning

Excessive or exorbitant prices.

## Examples

- Paying ten dollars for a small coffee is highway robbery.
- The hotel charged us fifty dollars for parking, which felt like absolute highway robbery.
- The company’s decision to charge such exorbitant fees for basic services was widely criticized as nothing short of highway robbery.

## Origin

From the Old English compound *weġrēaf*, a term formed by the components for road and theft. The construction provided a literal designation for the act of robbery committed upon a public thoroughfare, a precursor to the modern idiom.

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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.