ex‧pen‧sive S1 W2 / ɪkspensɪv / 形容词

costing a lot of money 反义词 cheap :

the most expensive restaurant in town

Petrol is becoming more and more expensive.

Photography is an expensive hobby.

expensive to buy/run/produce/maintain etc

The house was too big and expensive to run.

For low-income families, children’s safety equipment can be prohibitively expensive (= so expensive that most people cannot afford it ) .

Employing the wrong builder can be a horribly expensive mistake .

Her husband had expensive tastes (= liked expensive things ) .

— expensively 副词 :

She’s always expensively dressed.

COLLOCATIONS

副词

quite/fairly expensive The food’s quite expensive, but it’s really nice.

rather/pretty expensive (= more expensive than you expect ) I think £1000 for a bed is rather expensive.

very/extremely expensive We ate at a very expensive restaurant.

astronomically/phenomenally expensive (= used to emphasize how expensive something is ) Some new medical treatments are phenomenally expensive.

hugely expensive (= extremely expensive, especially when you think something is too expensive ) The building is hugely expensive to maintain.

ridiculously/outrageously/horrendously expensive (= extremely expensive, in a way that seems shocking ) Room service in the hotel was ridiculously expensive.

extortionately expensive (= extremely expensive, in a way that is not fair or reasonable ) Houses in some parts of London are extortionately expensive.

prohibitively expensive formal (= too expensive, with the result that most people cannot afford to buy something ) HIV medicines are still prohibitively expensive for sufferers in Africa.

动词

look expensive All of her clothes look very expensive.

prove expensive Their decision could prove expensive.

名词

expensive tastes (= a desire to have things that are very expensive ) His wife has very expensive tastes and his kids always want the latest things.

an expensive mistake (= a mistake which results in someone having to spend a lot of money ) Choosing the wrong builder turned out to be an expensive mistake.

THESAURUS

expensive costing a lot of money : an expensive car | Apartments in the city are very expensive. | An underground train system is expensive to build.

high costing a lot of money.You use high about rents/fees/prices/costs. Don’t use expensive with these words : Rents are very high in this area. | Lawyers charge high fees. | the high cost of living in Japan

dear [名词前不用] British English spoken expensive compared to the usual price : £3.50 seems rather dear for a cup of coffee.

pricey / praɪsi / informal expensive : The clothes are beautiful but pricey.

costly expensive in a way that wastes money : Upgrading the system would be very costly. | They were anxious to avoid a costly legal battle.

cost a fortune informal to be very expensive : The necklace must have cost a fortune!

exorbitant / ɪɡzɔbət ə nt, ɪɡzɔbɪt ə nt $ -ɔr- / much too expensive : Some accountants charge exorbitant fees.

astronomical astronomical prices, costs, and fees are extremely high : the astronomical cost of developing a new spacecraft | the astronomical prices which some people had paid for their seats | The cost of living is astronomical.

overpriced too expensive and not worth the price : The DVDs were vastly overpriced.

somebody can’t afford something someone does not have enough money to buy or do something : Most people can’t afford to send their children to private schools.