no free lunch

Register · Neutral Neutral — appropriate in most situations, both spoken and written, without sounding too casual or too stiff. CEFR B1

Post

Example

“There's no free lunch with index speed — writes get slower.”

Dictionary details

Alternate forms

there's no such thing as a free lunch

Tags

Expressions connected by reviewed component words or topic tags.

easier said than done Neutral · CEFR B1

Something that sounds simple to do but is actually hard.

pipe dream Informal · CEFR B2

an unrealistic hope or plan that will almost certainly never happen

double-edged sword Neutral · CEFR C1

something that has both great benefits and serious risks

technical debt Neutral · CEFR C1

the long-term cost of choosing quick, messy solutions over careful ones

Source methodology

Meanings, register, CEFR, and examples come from the reviewed dictionary record. Expression notes may describe a reviewed present-day word picture or a background note; they are not presented as verified etymology.

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