cheapen

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈtʃipən/ UK /ˈtʃiːpən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to lower the price, quality, or dignity of something

Flooding the market with imitations only cheapened the brand.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to lower the price,... devaluedegrade debase demean depreciate lower diminish

Opposites

enhance ennoble elevate dignify appreciate

Word family

Derived forms cheapenedcheapening

Related forms cheap

Etymology

From cheap + -en. Cheap is from Old English cēap ('trade, bargain, price'), an early borrowing from Latin caupō ('tradesman'); the modern adjectival sense arose from the phrase 'good cheap' (a good bargain).

cēap Old English caupō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# cheapen

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈtʃipən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtʃiːpən/

## Meanings
1. to lower the price, quality, or dignity of something

## Examples
- Flooding the market with imitations only cheapened the brand.

## Synonyms
- devalue
- degrade
- debase
- demean
- depreciate
- lower
- diminish

## Antonyms
- enhance
- ennoble
- elevate
- dignify
- appreciate

## Derived Forms
- cheapened
- cheapening

## Related Forms
- cheap

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cēap
- Root: caupō

## Etymology
From cheap + -en. Cheap is from Old English cēap ('trade, bargain, price'), an early borrowing from Latin caupō ('tradesman'); the modern adjectival sense arose from the phrase 'good cheap' (a good bargain).

## AI Etymology
Cheapen comes from cheap + -en. Cheap is from Old English cēap ('trade, bargain, price'), an early borrowing from Latin caupō ('tradesman'); the modern adjectival sense arose from the phrase 'good cheap' (a good bargain). The historical trail runs through cēap in Old English and caupō in Latin. Morphologically, cheapen is transparent: it draws on cheap + -en. Used as a verb, cheapen now means "lower the price, quality, or dignity of something", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as cheapened and cheapening and related forms such as cheap. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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