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COSTLY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: costlier , costliest
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having a high price
Example:
a pricey restaurant
Synonyms:
costly; dear; high-priced; pricey; pricy
Classified under:
Similar:
expensive (high in price or charging high prices)
Derivation:
cost (the property of having material worth (often indicated by the amount of money something would bring if sold))
costliness (the quality possessed by something with a great price or value)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Entailing great loss or sacrifice
Example:
a dearly-won victory
Synonyms:
costly; dearly-won
Classified under:
Similar:
expensive (high in price or charging high prices)
Derivation:
cost (value measured by what must be given or done or undergone to obtain something)
Context examples:
In this sense, fast and portable diagnostic instruments for in situ analysis could provide a very interesting alternative to standard laboratories, reducing the need for costly infrastructure and applicable even in poorly-resourced areas.
(Scientists design platform to conduct chemical analysis using a smartphone, University of Granada)
Using less costly alternatives such as peritoneal dialysis or comprehensive conservative care – support in managing the disease without dialysis or a transplant – may be preferable in places with limited resources.
(Managing diabetes key to lowering kidney disease, SciDev.Net)
This demand is expected to be met mainly by using air conditioning, which is costly and environmentally damaging.
(Billions at risk from heat stress at home, SciDev.Net)
Education is costly; and even if it were not, and I could afford it, I am of opinion that it would not be at all advantageous to you to be kept at school.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Therefore he desired I would let him know, “what these costly meats were, and how any of us happened to want them?”
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
It has the advantage of being a less costly assay that does not require fluorescence microscopy with results that are stable over time.
(Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization, NCI Thesaurus)
This was approached by four steps carpeted with the same material, while all round were scattered rich cushions, oriental mats and costly rugs of fur.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Just at sunset, the air turned cold and the sky cloudy: I went in, Sophie called me upstairs to look at my wedding-dress, which they had just brought; and under it in the box I found your present—the veil which, in your princely extravagance, you sent for from London: resolved, I suppose, since I would not have jewels, to cheat me into accepting something as costly.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The general, perceiving how her eye was employed, began to talk of the smallness of the room and simplicity of the furniture, where everything, being for daily use, pretended only to comfort, etc.; flattering himself, however, that there were some apartments in the Abbey not unworthy her notice—and was proceeding to mention the costly gilding of one in particular, when, taking out his watch, he stopped short to pronounce it with surprise within twenty minutes of five!
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I will see, Mr. Utterson, said Poole, admitting the visitor, as he spoke, into a large, low-roofed, comfortable hall paved with flags, warmed (after the fashion of a country house) by a bright, open fire, and furnished with costly cabinets of oak.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
