inexpensive

Etymology

It is formed from English in- (“not”) + expensive.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Expensive, recorded from the 1620s, is formed from expense and -ive according to Etymonline;^[2] the Oxford dictionaries trace it to the stem Latin expens- of the past participle of expendō, associated early with the noun.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not costly; cheap: Etymonline dates the word to the 1670s,^[2] but the OED's first quotation is from 1837, in R. B. Ede's Practical Facts in Chemistry.^[3] Dictionary.com dates it to 1830–40,^[7] Merriam-Webster to about 1846,^[4] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 19th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A second sense, "not given to spending, not extravagant", is recorded from 1859, in Hawthorne's journal.^[3][5] It matches the first meaning of expensive, "given to lavish spending" (1620s), which only in the 1630s came to mean "costly".^[2]

Timeline

• 1670s – not costly, according to Etymonline.^[2]
• 1837 – not costly, cheap: the OED's first quotation.^[3]
• 1859 – not extravagant, not given to spending.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not costing much; reasonably priced; cheap: We found an inexpensive little hotel near the harbour.^[8][4][3]
2. Not given to spending much; not extravagant.^[3][5]

Word family

• inexpensively
• inexpensiveness

Related words

• expensive
• expense
• expend

Usage notes

Random House distinguishes it from cheap: both suggest a low cost, but cheap now often suggests poor quality or showy imitation, while inexpensive stresses the low price and implies that the thing is worth what it costs; it is often used to avoid saying cheap.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins