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Definition of costly adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

costly

adjective
 
/ˈkɒstli/
 
/ˈkɔːstli/
(comparative costlier, superlative costliest)
It is also very common to use more costly and most costly.
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  1. costing a lot of money, especially more than you want to pay synonym expensive
    • Buying new furniture may prove too costly.
    Synonyms expensiveexpensivecostly overpriced pricey dearThese words all describe something that costs a lot of money.expensive costing a lot of money; charging high prices:
    • I can’t afford it—it’s just too expensive for me.
    • an expensive restaurant
    costly (rather formal) costing a lot of money, especially more than you want to pay:
    • You want to avoid costly legal proceedings if you can.
    overpriced too expensive; costing more than it is worth:
    • ridiculously overpriced designer clothes
    pricey (informal) expensive:
    • Houses in the village are now too pricey for local people to afford.
    dear [not usually before noun] (British English) expensive:
    • Everything’s so dear now, isn’t it?
    This word is starting to become rather old-fashioned.
    Patterns
    • expensive/​costly/​overpriced/​pricey for somebody/​something
    • expensive/​costly to do something
    • very/​too/​fairly/​quite/​pretty expensive/​costly/​pricey
    Extra Examples
    • These measures could be costly to employers.
    • These teaching methods are too costly in terms of staff resources.
    • This process is costly in computer time.
    • The old palace may prove too costly for the Duke to maintain.
    • You want to avoid costly legal proceedings if you can.
    Topics Moneyc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • become
    • prove
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • for
    • in
    • in terms of
    See full entry
  2. causing problems or the loss of something synonym expensive
    • a costly mistake/failure
    • Mining can be costly in terms of lives (= too many people can die).
    Extra Examples
    • Privatizing the rail network turned out be a costly mistake for the government.
    • The six-month delay will be costly for the company.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • become
    • prove
    adverb
    • extremely
    • fairly
    • very
    preposition
    • for
    • in
    • in terms of
    See full entry
See costly in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee costly in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
given
adjective
 
 
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