pricey
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Pronunciation
- /ˈpɹaɪsi/[1]
Etymology
It is formed from English price + -y, also spelled pricy.[2][3][4][5][6]
Earliest recorded meaning
Expensive, costly: 1932, in Service.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster give the same year,[3][4] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1930–35.[6]
Semantic evolution
A jocular high-pricey is recorded earlier, in a 1923 poem by F. P. Adams in which it rhymes with spicy.[3] The word has kept the one sense "expensive",[2][5] and Merriam-Webster also records it of a shop or business that charges high prices.[4] The Shorter Oxford labels it colloquial and Collins calls it an informal word for expensive.[5][7] The derivatives priciness and pricily appear in the late 20th century.[5]
Timeline
- 1923 – high-pricey, in a jocular poem by F. P. Adams.[3]
- 1932 – expensive, costly.[2][3][4]
- late 20th century – the derivatives priciness and pricily.[5]
Meanings
Adjective
- (informal) Expensive; costly: The tickets were too pricey for us.[7][2][5]
- Charging high prices: a pricey little hotel by the harbour.[4]
Word family
- priceyness
- pricily
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins