too expensive
82
2.0
- adjective
- She decided not to buy the dress because it was too expensive.
- far too expensive
- simply too expensive
- still too expensive
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Watch on YouTubeAnd it really was too expensive to, to continue.
- And it really was too expensive to, to continue.
- This is obviously way too expensive to create a self-sustaining civilization.
- They were way too expensive and they weren't very efficient.
- Is nuclear power really too slow and too expensive, or is this another green herring?
- And I was in a room that was way too expensive in downtown New York.
- There's a free market, and if one grocery store is too expensive, you won't shop there.
- And it's just a little too shiny and too expensive.
- So now we have this if it works, I just think it's too expensive.
- If their if their currency gets too expensive, they lose jobs too.
Examples
-
It was too expensive for us, Honey.
-
Rice had long wanted to be a doctor but knew that it was too expensive for his family.
Academic text (1999) -
It's a little too expensive, but you should still do it.
-
And the reason is it up until now, it's simply been too expensive to justify the cost.
-
No, the tickets, the hotels, it's too expensive.
-
Moreover, the equipment is too expensive to be provided for each student.
Academic text (1992) -
The photography studios across the river in Boston were too expensive, and they had not had time.
Fiction book (1997) -
Going back to the natural suede mat, it looks great, but I consider it too expensive for this purpose.
-
Argentine goods, priced in dollars, would still be too expensive for Latin American or European markets.
Academic text (2001) -
Also, widespread testing is too expensive for many African ministries of health.
Academic text (1993)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
That costs a lot of money
210
3.5
Costing a lot of money
208
3.6
More than is needed or reasonable
135
1.7
Expensive and costing a lot of money
52
4.4
Costs a lot of money
42
3.7
Too expensive for what you get
41
4.2
Very high in price and hard to afford
23
7.9
A price or cost that is much higher than it should be
20
5.1
Very expensive and costing a lot of money
16
7.4
So expensive that people cannot afford it
14
4.0
Costing a lot of money
6
6.8
Too expensive for most people to afford
2
7.9
Much more expensive than a fair price
2
8.4
More expensive than I can afford or want to pay
1
5.5
Too large for a person or company to afford
1
8.2
Costing a lot of money
1
6.6
To be very expensive
1
5.6
To spend more money than you can afford
Antonyms
How Expensive
23
7.9
82
2.0
∞
1.0
- Informal
52
4.4
304
2.1
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'too' (= exceeding what is suitable) modifies 'expensive' (= high in price), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer that something costs more than is acceptable or affordable. This pattern is a common, transparent adjective + modifier construction and is cross-linguistically familiar, so the phrase is immediately understandable from its parts.
Etymology
Too expensive paints a picture of a price that is too high, like a tall stack of coins you cannot reach. So it means 'costs more than you can afford'.