expensive

UK: /ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/ US: /ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/ ,(ik spen′siv)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ex•pen•sive /ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/   adj. 

1. requiring great expense;
   costing a lot of money:
   an expensive party.

ex•pen•sive•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ex•pen•sive  (ik spen′siv), adj. 

1. entailing great expense;
   very high-priced;
   costly:
   an expensive party.

• expense + -ive 1620–30

ex•pen′sive•ly, adv. 
ex•pen′sive•ness, n. 
Synonyms

Expensive, costly, dear, high-priced apply to something that is high in price. Expensive is applied to whatever entails considerable expense; it suggests a price more than the average person would normally be able to pay or a price paid only for something special:
an expensive automobile.
Costly implies that the price is a large sum, usually because of the fineness, preciousness, etc., of the object:
a costly jewel.
Dear is commonly applied in England to something that is selling beyond its usual or just price. In the U.S., high-priced is the usual equivalent.

Antonyms

cheap, low-priced.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

expensive / ɪkˈspɛnsɪv/ adjective

1. high-priced; costly; dear

exˈpensiveness noun