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cut-rate

cut-rate

1 3.7
Offered at a lower price than usual, often with lower quality
  • adjective
  • /ˈkʌt reɪt/
  • US
translation icon : a precio reducido
  • Often sold at cut-rate prices, the gas was a gargantuan challenge to Gazprom, which controlled 27% of Europe's market for gas and sold it in long-term contracts whose prices were linked to those of oil, keeping them high.
  • cut-rate financing
  • cut-rate prices
  • offer a cut-rate

Examples

  • Many travelers choose cut-rate hotels to save money during their vacations.

  • My families were going to the cut-rate supermarkets, and my loyal customers—the ones who started with my father and stayed with me through lean times—were getting to that age where they were eating little, or being shipped off to nursing homes, or they were dead.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Making sure nobody sees some cut-rate copy band.

  • And if you weren't such a cut-rate dick, maybe he would still be alive today.

  • Dove Airlines had appeared on the scene five years ago to challenge Northwest on its home turf, boasting cut-rate fares to most of the larger airlines' priciest destinations.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The new supermarket is known for its cut-rate groceries, making it a favorite among budget shoppers.

  • She bought a cut-rate phone plan that provides unlimited data at a fraction of the regular price.

Synonyms

bargain-priced
vscut-rate
1 3.2

Sold for a lower price than usual

is broader applying to offered goods and services not only sold items
cut-price
vscut-rate
  • UK
3.0

Sold at a lower price than usual

is used for offering reduced asking prices before sale

How Cheap

dirt cheap
  • Informal
14 2.8
cut-rate
  • US
1 3.7
low-cost
42 2.0

Surface Forms

cut-rate positive

Morphology

cut-rate = cut + rate (transparent) = cut + rate

The meaning 'reduced rate' is directly and predictably derived from the components 'cut' + 'rate'.

Etymology

Cut-rate comes from the two simple parts cut and rate, where cut means 'to make smaller' and rate means 'price'. So a cut-rate item has a 'cut' price — lower than the usual rate — which is why it means cheap or offered at a lower cost.