costly

adjective cost·ly \ ˈkȯs(t)-lē \

Updated on: 10 Dec 2017

Definition of costly

costlier; costliest

1 a : commanding a high price especially because of intrinsic worth

costly gems

b : rich, splendid

2 : made or done at heavy expense or sacrifice

a costly mistake

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costliness

noun

See costly defined for English-language learners

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Examples of costly in a Sentence

We use less costly materials in our products.
It was too costly to fix her car after the accident, so she decided to buy a new car instead.
They won the game, but their best player was injured, so it was a costly victory.
The decision to wait could be a costly mistake.

Recent Examples of costly from the Web

Although it has not been confirmed whether or not Alli's injury was a result of the win over Los Blancos, his absence may prove costly as Roy Hodgson's men attempt to cause an upset in North London.

— SI.com, "Spurs Star Dele Alli Set to Miss Crystal Palace Clash With Hamstring Injury," 5 Nov. 2017
College is costly, immigration and diversity are low, and infant mortality is 24 percent higher than the national rate.

— lisa miller, Daily Intelligencer, "John Kasich Is Already Running," 29 Oct. 2017
But his interception and fumbled exchange proved costly.

— mark heim, AL.com, "Austin Allen's so nervous at end of Arkansas-Ole Miss game he doesn't know what to do," 28 Oct. 2017
Any potential recall could prove costly, said analysts.

— sean mclain, WSJ, "Metal Scandal Triggers Safety Probes Into Planes, Trains and Cars," 11 Oct. 2017
Travis Frederick had a costly holding penalty. Terrance Williams and Dez Bryant dropped passes.

— drew davison, star-telegram, "Cowboys can’t get out of their own way in loss to Rams," 1 Oct. 2017
Hezbollah has grossly underestimated Israel, a mistake that will prove costly.

— andrew exum, The Atlantic, "The Hubris of Hezbollah," 18 Sep. 2017
And one sure bet is that the administration and Congress will provide funds for the costliest-ever disaster cleanups.

— albert r. hunt, chicagotribune.com, "Don't expect Trump and Congress to do anything," 11 Sep. 2017
To be clear, the CBO was entirely aware of what was going on, and the agency explicitly called out the fact that the CLASS program would prove extremely costly in the long run in its analysis.

— reihan salam, Slate Magazine, "The perils of crafting legislation to pass muster with the Congressional Budget Office.," 15 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'costly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.