pricey
Meaning
Expensive; having a high price.
Structure
Usage
The restaurant was excellent, but a bit pricey for everyday dining.
She found a lovely dress, though it was more pricey than she had budgeted for.
Organic produce tends to be pricey, but many believe it's worth the extra cost.
Etymology
The word "pricey" is a modern, informal English formation built upon the well-established noun "price". The core concept of "price" traces back to Latin pretium, which carried the meanings of price, value, and reward. The addition of the adjectival suffix "-y", a native English morpheme used to mean "having the quality of", directly transforms the noun into a descriptive term. Therefore, the literal construction "full of price" evolved logically into its contemporary colloquial sense of "expensive" or "costly", emphasizing the notable or high cost associated with an item.
Analysis
- price: From Old French pris, from Latin pretium (price, value, reward). Functions as the core noun root. - y: A productive English suffix of Old English origin, used to form adjectives meaning "characterized by" or "full of".