What does costliness mean?
Costliness is a formal noun denoting the quality of being costly — that is, demanding great expense. Its core use is financial: the costliness of raw materials, housing, or a lavish ceremony signals that these things carry a heavy price tag. But the word extends naturally beyond money into matters of effort and sacrifice: one may speak of the costliness of a war, a legal battle, or a hard-won reform, meaning the losses and burdens they impose. Formed from the adjective "costly" with the suffix "-ness," it belongs chiefly to written and evaluative English rather than casual conversation, where speakers more often say "expense" or "how expensive something is." Its connotation is usually negative or cautionary, framing expense as a burden to be weighed against value. The word is especially useful when the point is not the amount spent but the very fact that a high price must be paid at all.
nounThe quality or state of being costly; the fact of involving great expense, effort, or sacrifice.
- The quality of involving great monetary expense; expensiveness.
- The quality of entailing serious loss, sacrifice, or suffering beyond money (e.g. the costliness of a victory).
"The costliness of the project ultimately forced the council to abandon it."
"Buyers were deterred by the sheer costliness of imported marble."
"Historians still debate whether the costliness of that victory in lives was justified."
Rarely pluralized; the noun is almost always used as an uncountable mass noun referring to the abstract quality.
"Costliness" carries a double meaning: it can describe something that drains your wallet — or something that drains your patience, your time, or even human lives.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of costliness
Costliness derives from the Middle English adjective "costly," itself formed from the noun "cost," which entered English from Old French "coste" and ultimately from Latin "constare," meaning "to stand together" or "to stand at a price." The suffix "-ness" was added to turn the adjective into an abstract noun, following a productive English pattern seen in words like "goodness" and "kindness." The word has been part of English since the Middle English period, with its senses broadening over time from purely monetary expense to encompass loss and sacrifice more generally.
Related word forms
How costliness is actually used
A formal, somewhat literary noun built from the adjective "costly." It is far less common than "expensiveness" in everyday speech and tends to appear in written or evaluative contexts, often to weigh a price against a benefit.
Easily confused with costliness
Costliness refers to high expense, while costume is an outfit worn for a particular occasion or role.