overprice
Meaning
To charge more for something than it is really worth or than is considered reasonable.
Structure
Usage
The new boutique tends to overprice its designer handbags.
Many consumers feel that concert tickets are grossly overpriced.
It's a nice hotel, but I think they overprice the rooms considering the location.
Etymology
The verb 'overprice' is a transparent modern English compound, formed by directly combining the native English prefix 'over-' with the noun 'price'. The prefix 'over-', with its ancient Germanic roots conveying a sense of excess or going beyond a limit, is attached to 'price', a word which entered English via Old French from Latin pretium (meaning "price, value, reward"). The literal construction "to price over" logically evolved into the specific commercial sense of assigning a value that exceeds what is fair or justified, reflecting a critical judgment on the relationship between cost and worth.
Analysis
- over: A prefix of Old English origin, from Proto-Germanic uber, meaning "above, beyond, excessively." Its functional role is to modify the base word by indicating excess. - price: A noun of Old French (pris) and ultimately Latin (pretium) origin, meaning "value, worth, cost." Its functional role is the core lexical base of the word.