Expensive means costing a lot of money, more than most similar things or more than you might want to spend. A fancy restaurant where dinner costs $100 per person is expensive. A rare trading card that sells for $500 is expensive. A college education that costs $50,000 per year is expensive.

What counts as expensive depends on context. A $20 video game might seem expensive to someone saving their allowance, but cheap to someone who just bought a $2,000 laptop. A $300 winter coat is expensive compared to a $40 coat, but both keep you warm. Often the expensive version offers better quality: it might last longer, work better, or feel nicer to use.

Sometimes expensive things are worth the cost, like a sturdy bicycle that lasts for years. Other times, paying more doesn't get you much extra. Learning to judge whether something expensive is actually worth its price is an important skill. Just because something costs more doesn't automatically make it better.

The opposite of expensive is cheap or inexpensive. When something becomes more expensive over time, we say prices are rising or that there's inflation. When stores lower prices, they might advertise items as less expensive or affordable.