inexpensive

/ˌɪnɪkˈspɛnsɪv/

Say it: in-ik-SPEN-siv

adjective Low in price; not costing a lot of money.
We found an inexpensive but charming hotel for our weekend trip.

📖 Seen in the wild

The store offered a wide range of inexpensive but durable household goods.
collected by @vocablast

✏️ inexpensive in a sentence

Generic brands are often an inexpensive alternative to their name-brand counterparts.
The city is promoting inexpensive public transportation to reduce traffic congestion.
For an inexpensive date night, a picnic in the park is hard to beat.
The startup relied on inexpensive marketing tactics like social media to grow its customer base.
She found a surprisingly inexpensive first edition of the novel at a local flea market.
Building with prefabricated materials can be a relatively inexpensive option.

🔁 Synonyms & antonyms

cheap affordable economical low-cost budget-friendly reasonable modest

cheap · often implies poor quality as well as low price.

affordable · emphasizes that the price is manageable for a typical budget.

economical · suggests good value and careful use of resources, not just a low price.

low-cost · a direct and neutral term, often used in business contexts.

Opposites: expensive, costly, pricy, dear, high-priced

🌱 Where it comes from

The word is a straightforward combination of the prefix 'in-', meaning 'not', and the word 'expensive'. 'Expensive' itself traces back to the Latin 'expendere', which meant 'to weigh out' or 'pay out'. Therefore, something inexpensive is literally 'not paid out' heavily, or not costly.

🧩 How it's used

Common patterns:

inexpensive mealinexpensive giftrelatively inexpensivean inexpensive way toinexpensive housing

'Inexpensive' is a neutral to positive word that focuses solely on a low price. Its closest synonym, 'cheap', can be tricky because it often carries a negative connotation of poor quality or shoddiness. For example, an 'inexpensive watch' is a good deal, but a 'cheap watch' is likely to break. To avoid ambiguity or accidentally insulting something, 'inexpensive' is usually the safer and more precise choice in professional and formal writing.

Word family: inexpensively, inexpensiveness

💬 Quick answers

What does inexpensive mean?

Inexpensive means something has a low price or does not cost a lot of money. It's a neutral or positive way to describe something that is affordable.

What's the difference between 'inexpensive' and 'cheap'?

'Inexpensive' simply means low-priced and is generally a neutral term. 'Cheap' can also mean low-priced, but it often carries a negative connotation, implying poor quality or shoddiness.

Is 'inexpensive' a formal word?

'Inexpensive' is a neutral word that is appropriate for both formal and informal situations. It is a standard and widely accepted term in business, academic, and everyday communication.

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