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Dictionary.com

pretty penny

ADJECTIVE
dear
Synonyms
STRONGEST
valuable
STRONG
fancy high steep stiff
WEAK
an arm and a leg at a premium cher costly high-priced out of sight overpriced pricey prized
Antonyms
STRONG
moderate soft
WEAK
cheap common despised hateful inexpensive low-priced unimportant valueless worthless
ADJECTIVE
expensive
Synonyms
STRONGEST
costly extravagant fancy high lavish overpriced pricey upscale valuable
WEAK
an arm and a leg at a premium big-ticket dear excessive exorbitant highway robbery holdup immoderate inordinate invaluable out of sight plush posh rich ritzy sky-high steep stiff swank too high uneconomical unreasonable
Antonyms
STRONGEST
economical reasonable unimportant worthless
WEAK
cheap inexpensive low-priced moderate
NOUN
king's ransom
Synonyms
WEAK
El Dorado Golconda end of the rainbow good sum land of milk and honey large sum pot of gold riches of Solomon tidy sum weight in gold

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

He hadn’t grown up with money, but working at a tech company that IPO’d in the late ’90s, he was able to make a pretty penny for himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

On the other end of the spectrum, professionally designed cakes are undeniably beautiful — but they can also cost a pretty penny, and rightly so.

From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2026

Those delayed retirement credits are worth a pretty penny.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2025

Indeed, storage facilities often get to keep all the proceeds of an auction, and some auctioned units can turn a pretty penny.

From Slate ● Jan. 8, 2025

"I bet they're worth a pretty penny now."

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

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