Expensive in Different Languages
Discover 'Expensive' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Expensive
Afrikaans duur | ||
Albanian e shtrenjtë | ||
Amharic ውድ | ||
Arabic مكلفة | ||
Armenian թանկ | ||
Assamese দামী | ||
Aymara jila | ||
Azerbaijani bahalı | ||
Bambara gɛlɛn | ||
Basque garestia | ||
Belarusian дорага | ||
Bengali ব্যয়বহুল | ||
Bhojpuri महँग | ||
Bosnian skupo | ||
Bulgarian скъпо | ||
Catalan car | ||
Cebuano mahal | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 昂贵 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 昂貴 | ||
Corsican caru | ||
Croatian skup | ||
Czech drahý | ||
Danish dyrt | ||
Dhivehi އަގުބޮޑު | ||
Dogri मैंहगा | ||
Dutch duur | ||
English expensive | ||
Esperanto multekosta | ||
Estonian kallis | ||
Ewe xᴐ asi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) mahal | ||
Finnish kallis | ||
French coûteux | ||
Frisian djoer | ||
Galician caro | ||
Georgian ძვირი | ||
German teuer | ||
Greek ακριβός | ||
Guarani hepy | ||
Gujarati ખર્ચાળ | ||
Haitian Creole chè | ||
Hausa tsada | ||
Hawaiian pipiʻi | ||
Hebrew יָקָר | ||
Hindi महंगा | ||
Hmong kim | ||
Hungarian drága | ||
Icelandic dýrt | ||
Igbo dị oke ọnụ | ||
Ilocano nangina | ||
Indonesian mahal | ||
Irish daor | ||
Italian costoso | ||
Japanese 高価な | ||
Javanese larang | ||
Kannada ದುಬಾರಿ | ||
Kazakh қымбат | ||
Khmer ថ្លៃណាស់ | ||
Kinyarwanda bihenze | ||
Konkani म्हारग | ||
Korean 비싼 | ||
Krio dia | ||
Kurdish biha | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) گران بەها | ||
Kyrgyz кымбат | ||
Lao ລາຄາແພງ | ||
Latin pretiosa | ||
Latvian dārga | ||
Lingala ntalo mingi | ||
Lithuanian brangu | ||
Luganda omuwendo gwa waggulu | ||
Luxembourgish deier | ||
Macedonian скапи | ||
Maithili महग | ||
Malagasy lafo | ||
Malay mahal | ||
Malayalam ചെലവേറിയത് | ||
Maltese għali | ||
Maori utu nui | ||
Marathi महाग | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯥꯡꯕ | ||
Mizo manto | ||
Mongolian үнэтэй | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) စျေးကြီး | ||
Nepali महँगो | ||
Norwegian dyrt | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) okwera mtengo | ||
Odia (Oriya) ମହଙ୍ଗା | ||
Oromo qaalii | ||
Pashto ګران | ||
Persian گران | ||
Polish kosztowny | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) caro | ||
Punjabi ਮਹਿੰਗਾ | ||
Quechua llunpay | ||
Romanian scump | ||
Russian дорого | ||
Samoan taugata | ||
Sanskrit बहुमूल्यम् | ||
Scots Gaelic daor | ||
Sepedi tura | ||
Serbian скупо | ||
Sesotho theko e phahameng | ||
Shona zvinodhura | ||
Sindhi مهانگو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) මිල අධිකයි | ||
Slovak drahý | ||
Slovenian drago | ||
Somali qaali ah | ||
Spanish costoso | ||
Sundanese mahal | ||
Swahili ghali | ||
Swedish dyr | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) mahal | ||
Tajik гарон | ||
Tamil விலை உயர்ந்தது | ||
Tatar кыйммәт | ||
Telugu ఖరీదైనది | ||
Thai เเพง | ||
Tigrinya ክባር | ||
Tsonga durha | ||
Turkish pahalı | ||
Turkmen gymmat | ||
Twi (Akan) aboɔden | ||
Ukrainian дорого | ||
Urdu مہنگا | ||
Uyghur قىممەت | ||
Uzbek qimmat | ||
Vietnamese đắt | ||
Welsh drud | ||
Xhosa kubiza | ||
Yiddish טײַער | ||
Yoruba gbowolori | ||
Zulu kuyabiza |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Duur" is derived from Old Dutch "dure" and German "teuer" and has the alternate meaning of "difficult". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "e shtrenjtë" is derived from the Latin word strēnuus. In Latin, strēnuus means strong, active or energetic. |
| Amharic | The word "ውድ" also means "beloved" or "dear" and is often used to describe a treasured possession. |
| Arabic | مكلفة is derived from the Arabic verb كلف which means 'to burden (someone) with'. |
| Armenian | The word թանկ in Armenian derives from the Middle Iranian word "tang" meaning "price" or "value". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "bahalı" also means "esteemed" or "valuable" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | In Basque, the word “garestia” can also mean “expensive” or “difficult to do”. |
| Belarusian | The word "дорага" in Belarusian also means "road". |
| Bengali | "ব্যয়বহুল" comes from the word "ব্যয়" (cost), and literally means "bearing cost". |
| Bosnian | The word "skupo" can also mean "stingy" or "miserly" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | The word "скъпо" also has the archaic meaning of "valuable" in Bulgarian, which is reflected in its related forms such as "скъп" (dear) and "ценен" (valuable). |
| Catalan | Catalan "car" can also mean a "face" or "countenance". |
| Cebuano | The word "mahal" can also refer to "love", "treasure", or "important things". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 昂贵 in Simplified Chinese literally means "head up". The "head" refers to the cost, and "up" means high. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 昂貴 is also an abbreviation of "昂首向天，窮途而歸" (with head up to the sky, returning home in desperation) |
| Corsican | The word "caru" in Corsican can also refer to a "beloved person" or "lover". |
| Croatian | The word 'skup' in Croatian is derived from 'skopiti', which means 'to collect', suggesting the concept of 'gathering' something valuable. |
| Czech | The term “drahý” initially signified “dear” (as in “beloved”) but came to mean “expensive” when precious and expensive commodities came to central Europe from Western markets during the Middle Ages. |
| Danish | The Danish word "dyrt" is cognate with the English word "dear," which originally meant "precious" or "beloved." |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "duur" is thought to come from an Old English word meaning "heavy" or "difficult". |
| Esperanto | "Multekosta" is a compound of "multe" (much) and "kosti" (cost), so it literally means "much cost." |
| Estonian | The word «kallis» can also mean «precious», «valuable» or even «priceless». |
| Finnish | Despite its origin in the Swedish word 'kallis', it has a distinct meaning in Finnish as it refers to something costly or valuable rather than endearing. |
| French | The word “coûteux” comes from the Latin “constare”, meaning to stand firm. |
| Frisian | The word "djoer" in Frisian is thought to be derived from the Middle Dutch word "diere", which also means "expensive". |
| Galician | The word "caro" in Galician can also refer to meat, probably due to its high price in the past. |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "ძვირი" has a double meaning: it can mean "precious" as well as "expensive". |
| German | The word "teuer" is derived from the Old High German word "tiuri", which means "precious" or "valuable". |
| Greek | The word ακριβός, in addition to meaning "expensive," is also used in Ancient Greek to refer to something "precise" or "exact." |
| Gujarati | The word "ખર્ચાળ" is derived from the verb "ખરચવું" (to spend), and it literally means "that which is spent". |
| Haitian Creole | Chè, meaning 'expensive' in Haitian Creole, derives from the French 'cher'. |
| Hausa | The word "tsada" also means "difficult" or "hard" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | The word "pipiʻi" may also mean "difficult" or "troublesome" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The word "יָקָר" (yakar) not only means "expensive" but also "precious," "valuable," or "highly esteemed." |
| Hindi | The word "महंगा" originated from the Sanskrit word "महत", meaning "great" or "important". |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "kim" can also refer to a precious object or something of high value. |
| Hungarian | The etymology of "drága" can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic word "dragъ" meaning "precious, dear, expensive" or "beloved, dear". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "dýrt" ("expensive") originates from the Old Norse word "dýrr," meaning "precious" or "valuable," which likely derived from the Proto-Germanic word ‘‘*deuraz,** meaning "deer." This connection hints at the perceived value and importance of deer as a resource in ancient Germanic societies. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "dị oke ọnụ" literally translates to "being very expensive," capturing the extent of the expense. |
| Indonesian | The word "mahal" in Indonesian is thought to have originated from the Arabic word "ghali", meaning "precious" or "valuable". |
| Irish | The word 'daor' can also mean 'difficult' or 'hard to do'. |
| Italian | "Costoso" derives from the Latin "constare," meaning "to stand firm" or "to have a fixed price," hence its sense of "expensive." |
| Japanese | The word 高価な "koukana" is derived from the Chinese vocabulary 貴い "toi" (precious, valuable) and 高い "takai" (high), which were later combined and converted to kun'yomi. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word 'larang' has an alternative meaning, 'forbidden', reflecting the taboo surrounding the mention of specific words or acts in certain contexts, such as funeral rites or royal court matters. |
| Kannada | It is used as a euphemism to refer to something that is not physically expensive (for example, the bride in a marriage is commonly referred to as "ದುಬಾರಿ" by her in-laws) |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "қымбат" can also mean "valuable" or "precious." |
| Khmer | The word can also be used to describe non-material things |
| Korean | 비싼 in Korean is related to the word 비치다, which means to shine or glitter. |
| Kurdish | The word "biha" can also refer to a specific type of valuable fabric or a large amount of money. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "кымбат" (expensive) in Kyrgyz is derived from the Persian word "ghīmat" (value, worth). It also means "valuable" or "precious" in Kyrgyz. |
| Latin | The term 'pretiosa' is derived from the Latin verb 'pretiari', meaning 'to set a price', and also denoted something 'of great value'. |
| Latvian | "Dārga" originates from the Slavic word "drogъ", meaning "costly" or "valuable." |
| Lithuanian | The word "brangu" in Lithuanian has several related meanings, including "valuable" and "precious". |
| Luxembourgish | The word "deier" in Luxembourgish ultimately derives from the Old High German word "tiuri", meaning "precious" or "valuable". |
| Macedonian | The word 'скапи' derives from the Proto-Slavic root *skop-, meaning 'to save' or 'to hoard', suggesting its original meaning was 'valuable' or 'prized'. |
| Malagasy | The word "lafo" means 'expensive' in Malagasy and is also used to describe something that is valuable or precious. |
| Malay | The Malay word "mahal" can also refer to a palace, suggesting its grandeur and value. |
| Malayalam | The word "ചെലവേറിയത്" in Malayalam comes from the Sanskrit word "chal" meaning "to move", and it can also refer to something that is extravagant or costly. |
| Maltese | The word 'għali' is also used to refer to something of high value, such as a precious object or a person's good qualities. |
| Maori | The Maori word utu nui means 'expensive', and is sometimes extended as a way of describing something that is overly expensive as utu nui rawa, which literally means 'very expensive'. |
| Marathi | The word "महाग" is derived from the Sanskrit words "मह" meaning "great" and "ग" meaning "to go". |
| Mongolian | "Үнэтэй" can also mean "valuable" or "precious" |
| Nepali | The word "महँगो" comes from the Sanskrit word "महर्ग" meaning "costly" or "dear". |
| Norwegian | The word «dyrt» most likely has an origin in «dyre», meaning «animal», possibly because of using animal skins as a currency in early Norway. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "okwera mtengo" can also mean "to be of high value" or "to be prestigious" in Nyanja (Chichewa). |
| Pashto | The word "ګران" in Pashto derived from the Persian word "گران" (expensive), which is also related to the Sanskrit word "गुरु" (heavy). |
| Persian | The word "گران" can also mean "heavy" or "difficult" in Persian. |
| Polish | The word "kosztowny" can also mean "valuable" or "precious". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Latin, "caro" means "flesh" or "meat", and in Portuguese, it has the extended meaning of "something that is highly valued or desired, and therefore expensive." |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word ਮਹਿੰਗਾ, meaning "expensive," is derived from the Persian word "mahang," which also means "expensive," suggesting a historical trading and linguistic exchange between the two languages. |
| Romanian | The word 'scump' is derived from the Slavic word 'skup', meaning 'stingy' or 'miserly'. |
| Russian | The Russian word “дорого” (expensive) can also mean “dear,” as in a person who is close to one’s heart. |
| Samoan | The word "taugata" in Samoan can also mean "valuable" or "precious". |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word "daor" also means "difficult" and is used as an intensive in some parts of Scotland. |
| Serbian | "Скупо" can also mean "stingy" in Serbian, hinting at the negative connotation associated with high prices. |
| Sesotho | "Theko" could also refer to a traditional Sesotho house that is round and has a thatched roof. |
| Shona | The word "zvinodhura" is derived from the word "zvino" which means "now" and "dhura" which means "difficult". |
| Sindhi | مهانگو "expensive" is also the Sindhi word for "heavy". |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "drahý" also means "dear" or "precious" and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*dorgъ" meaning "valuable". |
| Slovenian | The word 'drago' also refers to a precious stone or gem. |
| Somali | The word "qaali ah" in Somali also means "precious" or "valuable." |
| Spanish | "Costoso" comes from the Latin word "constosus" and can also mean abundant, profuse, or plentiful. |
| Sundanese | The word "mahal" in Sundanese also means "worthwhile" or "precious". |
| Swahili | The word "ghali" in Swahili is derived from the Arabic word "ghālī", which also means "expensive". |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "dyr" originally meant "animal", and is related to the English word "deer" and the Latin word "fera". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In addition to 'expensive,' the Tagalog word 'mahal' can also mean 'beloved' or 'treasured'. |
| Tajik | The Tajik word "гарон" may also be a variation of the word "гаразон", which is a type of large tent. |
| Tamil | The term is derived from the word "nilai", meaning"value" or "worth" in Tamil. |
| Telugu | The word "ఖరీదైనది" in Telugu originates from the Sanskrit word "kṛta", meaning "bought or acquired". |
| Thai | The word "เเพง" can also mean "difficult" or "rare". |
| Turkish | The etymology of 'pahalı' in Turkish traces back to Persian "baha(y)li", which also bears meanings of 'price', 'wealth' and 'valuable'. |
| Ukrainian | The word "дорого" also means "dear" in Ukrainian, referring to a person or thing that is loved or valued. |
| Urdu | The word 'مہنگا' is derived from the Persian word 'مه,' meaning 'moon' and 'گانا,' meaning 'to sing,' alluding to the belief that the moon influences prices. |
| Uzbek | Uzbek "qimmat" is a loanword from Persian "qīmat" meaning "worth" or "price". |
| Vietnamese | The word "đắt" can also mean "rare" or "valuable" in Vietnamese. |
| Welsh | Drud in Welsh also refers to a 'turn' in a sequence, or to 'going around' or 'circling'. |
| Xhosa | The word "Kubiza” can also be used to describe something that has a high value or is precious. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "טײַער" also means "dear" in the sense of beloved or precious. |
| Yoruba | "Gbowolori" is believed to have originated from "gb'owo l'ori" meaning "carry money on the head" signifying great wealth. |
| Zulu | The word 'kuyabiza' comes from the verb 'ukubiza', which means 'to make noise', 'to shout'. |
| English | The word "expensive" comes from the Latin word "expensus," which means "to weigh out" or "to spend." |