English Reference
adjective

inexpensive

adj.
US /ˌɪnɪkˈspɛnsɪv/ UK /ˌɪnɛkspˈɛnsɪv/ in·ex·pen·sive

  1. 01 B1 Intermediate

    not costing a lot of money; affordable.

    costing relatively little money; providing good value for the price without necessarily implying inferior quality.

    Simple

    The restaurant serves delicious and inexpensive meals for students.

    In context

    Finding an inexpensive apartment in the city centre has become increasingly difficult due to the recent surge in demand for short-term rentals.

    Pitfall
    The price of the car was very inexpensive. The car was very inexpensive.

    In English, objects are 'inexpensive', but prices are 'low'. Do not use 'inexpensive' to describe the word 'price' itself.

  2. 02 C1 Advanced Formal

    not spending a lot of money on things.

    characterised by or showing a lack of extravagance in expenditure.

    Simple

    They lived an inexpensive life in a small cottage by the sea.

    In context

    The board recommended an inexpensive approach to the marketing campaign, focusing on organic social media growth rather than costly television advertisements.

Don't confuse

inexpensive vs cheap — Cheap implies low quality or a lack of value, while inexpensive simply means the price is low.


From in- + expensive.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B1 · Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated