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.

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

The most expensive are “proven” seeds, meaning people wait years to see how they perform with other growers before agreeing to spend a pretty penny.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 10, 2025

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

Falco had only a few square kilometers of surface area, but it had still cost me a pretty penny.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

pretty penny

Example Sentences

Related Words