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REFERENCE

cheap

adj. · adv.
US //ˈtʃip// UK //tʃˈiːp// cheap
  1. 1 low price (adj.)
    A1 Beginner

    costing very little money or less than you expected.

    available at a low price or reduced in cost relative to the market average.

    Example

    The tickets were very cheap because we bought them three months in advance.

    Example

    The airline offers cheap fares to major European hubs, provided that passengers are willing to travel with only a small carry-on bag.
    Pitfall
    I bought a cheap car, but it is very good quality.
    I bought an inexpensive car, but it is very good quality.

    While 'cheap' means low price, it often suggests 'bad quality'. Use 'inexpensive' if you want to be purely positive about the price.

  2. 2 poor quality (adj.)
    B1 Intermediate

    made badly or using low-quality materials.

    of inferior quality or shoddy workmanship; lacking value despite the low price.

    Example

    I bought a cheap umbrella that broke the first time it rained.

    Example

    The furniture felt cheap and flimsy, suggesting it would not survive a single house move without falling apart.
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  1. 3 stingy (adj.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    unwilling to spend money, even when you should.

    unwilling to spend money; excessively frugal in a way that others find annoying or embarrassing.

    Example

    He is so cheap that he never leaves a tip at the restaurant.

    Example

    Her colleagues considered her cheap because she always managed to disappear whenever it was her turn to buy a round of drinks.
  2. 4 unfair or unkind (adj.)
    C1 Advanced Informal

    unfair or showing a lack of respect.

    describing a comment or action that is unfair, unkind, or achieved without much effort.

    Example

    That was a cheap shot at his appearance during the debate.

    Example

    The politician resorted to cheap tricks and personal insults rather than addressing the actual substance of the new policy proposal.
  3. 5 computing resources (adj.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    using very little of a computer's power or memory.

    requiring minimal computational resources, such as processing time or memory, to execute.

    Example

    This new algorithm is very cheap to run on older mobile phones.

    Example

    The developers prioritised a computationally cheap solution to ensure the application remained responsive even on low-end hardware.
  4. 6 at a low cost (adv.)
    B1 Intermediate Informal

    for a low price.

    at a low price; used as a flat adverb in informal speech.

    Example

    I managed to get this bike cheap from a friend who was moving away.

    Example

    They bought the property cheap during the recession and sold it for a significant profit five years later.

    Usage

    Often used after verbs like 'buy', 'sell', or 'get'.
Origin

As a noun, from Middle English chep, from Old English cēap (“trade, market, value”), from Proto-West Germanic kaup. As a verb, from Middle English chepen, from Old English ċēapian (“to buy, bargain, trade”), from Proto-West Germanic kaupōn, from Proto-Germanic kaupōną, a verbal derivative of kaupô (“trader”), from Latin caupō. The adjective originated as a shortening of Middle and Early Modern English good cheap, literally “good purchase” (as in “that was good cheap”, i.e. “that was [a] good purchase”). Compare Dutch goedkoop, French bon marché. Cognates Cognate with Scots chepe (“to sell”), chape (“sale price”), North Frisian keap (“purchase”), West Frisian keap (“purchase, buy, acquisition”), Dutch koop (“buy, purchase, deal”), kopen (“to buy, purchase, shop”), Low German kopen (“to buy”), German Kauf (“trade, traffic, bargain, purchase, buy”), kaufen (“to buy”), Swedish köp (“bargain, purchase”), köpa (“to buy, purchase”), Norwegian Nynorsk kjøpa (“to buy, purchase”), Icelandic kaup (“purchase, bargain”), kaupa (“to purchase”); also borrowed as Finnish kauppa (“shop, trade”), Russian купить (kupitʹ, “to purchase”), Old Church Slavonic коупити (kupiti, “to purchase”), Bulgarian ку́пя (kúpja, “to purchase”), Serbo-Croatian купити (“to purchase”), Czech koupit (“to purchase”), Polish kupić (“to purchase”).

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