as in expensive
commanding a large price
running is one sport that does not require a lot of costly equipment
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Recent Examples of costly
Inflation peaked at 34% after the government cut a costly fuel subsidy in 2023 a move economists say was needed despite the short-term pain.
—
Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 22 July 2025
Solar and wind power, once costly alternatives to electricity generated by burning coal or gas, are now roughly 40 to 50 percent cheaper than fossil fuels, the report found.
—Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 July 2025
Australian lettuce’s 300% hike Eastern Australia faced record-breaking extreme flooding in early 2022, which was soon estimated to be Australia’s costliest ever flood and its fifth most costly disaster.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 21 July 2025
Most are costly at present, as with any new technology.
—Ryan Waniata, Wired News, 20 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for costly
Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 22 July 2025
Solar and wind power, once costly alternatives to electricity generated by burning coal or gas, are now roughly 40 to 50 percent cheaper than fossil fuels, the report found.
—Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 July 2025
Australian lettuce’s 300% hike Eastern Australia faced record-breaking extreme flooding in early 2022, which was soon estimated to be Australia’s costliest ever flood and its fifth most costly disaster.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 21 July 2025
Most are costly at present, as with any new technology.
—Ryan Waniata, Wired News, 20 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for costly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for costly
Adjective
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In the wake of the record-breaking wildfires in Los Angeles in January—some of the most expensive and destructive blazes in history—one of the first things California governor Gavin Newsom did was to sign an executive order suspending environmental rules around rebuilding.—
Umair Irfan,
Wired News,
19 July 2025
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But training those drivers is expensive, Merrifield said, so colleges can’t necessarily afford to enroll more students.—
Natalie Yahr,
jsonline.com,
19 July 2025
Adjective
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When the 21st century dawned GE was the world’s most valuable company, AOL and Yahoo were the darlings of the internet, Barron’s told us Tyco was the next GE, Enron had the smartest executives (which may have been true despite the outcome), Lucent was the future of communications, etc.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
26 July 2025
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Yet, Rogers still sees Netflix maintaining its status as the most valuable media company in the world.—
Siena Griffin,
CNBC,
26 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Costly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/costly. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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