What does expensive mean?
Expensive is an adjective describing something that costs a great deal of money — a price that stands notably above what is typical, expected, or easily affordable. It is inherently comparative and evaluative: labeling a car, a meal, or a mistake expensive implies that the cost is high relative to the value received or the buyer's means. The word derives from the Latin expendere, "to pay out" or "to weigh out," via the noun expense, and entered English in the early seventeenth century. Beyond strictly financial use, it extends metaphorically to actions and decisions with heavy consequences, as in "an expensive victory" or "an expensive error," where the loss may be time, trust, or welfare rather than cash. Commonly paired with words like "taste," "habit," and "mistake," it is a versatile, everyday term whose antonyms include cheap and inexpensive. Its near-homograph "expansive," meaning wide-ranging or communicative, is a frequent source of confusion despite having an entirely different sense.
Costing a great deal of money; commanding a high price relative to similar things or to what one can readily afford.
"They abandoned plans for the beachfront villa once they saw how expensive it was."
(Extended use) Involving great loss, sacrifice, or undesirable consequences; costly in more than monetary terms.
"Skipping routine maintenance proved to be an expensive decision for the airline."
This figurative sense applies to outcomes such as lost time, damaged reputation, or avoidable hardship.
"Expensive" literally means "spent out" — it comes from the Latin expendere, "to weigh out payment," so every price tag is an echo of ancient merchants weighing coins on a scale.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of expensive
"Expensive" traces to the Latin verb expendere, meaning "to weigh out" or "to pay," formed from ex- ("out") plus pendere ("to hang, to weigh"), the same root behind "pension" and "compensate." It entered English in the early seventeenth century through the noun "expense," which arrived via Old French from Late Latin expensa. Cognates sharing this root include "expend," "expenditure," and "dispense," all preserving the notion of paying out or measuring out.
Related word forms
How expensive is actually used
"Expensive" is a gradable adjective (very expensive, more expensive than) and carries no inherent register restrictions, fitting both formal and casual contexts. It often implies judgment relative to value: calling something expensive suggests the cost outweighs its worth. In extended senses, it describes losses beyond money, as in "an expensive lesson."
Easily confused with expensive
"Expensive" means costing a lot of money, while "expansive" means covering a wide area or being open and communicative in manner — the two differ by only one letter but share no meaning.