CHEAPNESS
buy something for a song
to buy something cheaply.No one else wanted it, so I bought it for a song.I could buy this house for a song, because it's so ugly.
chicken feed
nearly nothing; very little money.Bob doesn't get paid much. He works for chicken feed.You can buy an old car for chicken feed.
dirt cheap
extremely cheap. (Informal.)Buy some more of those plums. They're dirt cheap.In Italy, the peaches are dirt cheap.
cheesy
mod. cheap; tacky.I wouldn't live in a cheesy place like this if I could afford better.That was a cheesy trick to pull on somebody.
chintzy
mod. cheap; shoddy.Nobody's gonna buy this chintzy stuff. Throw it out.What a chintzy car! The door fell off!
cut corners
tr. to do something more easily; to take shortcuts; to save money by finding cheaper ways to do something.They're always finding ways to cut corners.I won't cut corners just to save money. I put quality first.
cut-rate
mod. cheap; low-priced.I don't want any cut-rate stuff.Where are your cut-rate sweaters?
dirt cheap
mod. very cheap.I picked this thing up dirt cheap.Get one of these while they're dirt cheap.
el cheapo
1.
n. the cheap one; the cheapest one. (Mock Spanish.)
I don't want one of those el cheapos.I can only afford el cheapo.
2.
mod. cheap.
The el cheapo brand won't last.This is el cheapo. I don't want it.Is this the el cheapo model?
on a shoestring
mod. on practically no money; on a very tight budget.I run my business on a shoestring. I never know from day to day whether I will survive.We live on a shoestring—hardly any money at all.
penny-ante
mod. trivial; cheap.I'm sick of this penny-ante stuff. Let's get serious.Max moved from penny-ante crimes into drugs.
rinky-dink
mod. cheap; inferior; broken down.I sold my rinky-dink old car yesterday.What a rinky-dink job! I quit!
schlock and schlocky
mod. cheap; junky; inferior.Schlocky stuff like this I can get from a no-overhead mail order.That place is nothing but a schlock shop.This thing is really schlock.
shoestring
mod. low-cost; cheap.This is just a shoestring operation. There is no capital involved.We have nothing but a shoestring budget this year.
sleaze and sleez
n. any junk.I won't sell sleez like that! I won't even have it in my store.Look at this sleaze—and look at the price! Outrageous!
stiff
tr. to fail to tip someone who expects it.Ya know, you can tell right away when a guy's gonna stiff you—ya just know.I guess I get stiffed two or three times a day.
tacky
mod. cheap; crude.That was a tacky thing to do to her.That was so tacky!This is sort of a tacky gift for a wedding.
ticky-tacky
n. cheap and shabby material.Those houses are just made of ticky-tacky, and they won't even be here in twenty years.That stuff is just tickytacky. No one will buy it.
two-bit
mod. cheap; small-time.Max is just a two-bit pusher. I want Mr. Big.I'm tired of your two-bit efforts to run this office.