Antonyms for pretty penny

Grammar : Adj, noun

Spell : pen-ee

Phonetic Transcription : ˈpɛn i

Definition of pretty penny

Origin : Old English pening, penig, Northumbrian penning "penny," from Proto-Germanic *panninggaz (cf. Old Norse penningr, Swedish pänning, Danish penge, Old Frisian panning, Old Saxon pending, Middle Dutch pennic, Dutch penning, Old High German pfenning, German Pfennig, not recorded in Gothic, where skatts is used instead), of unknown origin.
Offa's reformed coinage on light, broad flans is likely to have begun c.760-5 in London, with an awareness of developments in Francia and East Anglia. ... The broad flan penny established by Offa remained the principal denomination, with only minor changes, until the fourteenth century. [Anna Gannon, "The Iconography of Early Anglo-Saxon Coinage," Oxford, 2003]
The English coin was originally set at one-twelfth of a shilling and was of silver, later copper, then bronze. There are two plural forms: pennies of individual coins, pence collectively. In translations it rendered various foreign coins of small denomination, especially Latin denarius, whence comes its abbreviation d.
As American English colloquial for cent, it is recorded from 1889. Penny-a-liner "writer for a journal or newspaper" is attested from 1834. Penny dreadful "cheap and gory fiction" dates from c.1870. Phrase penny-wise and pound-foolish is recorded from c.1600. Penny-pincher "miserly person" is recorded from 1906 (as an adjective penny-pinching is recorded from 1858, American English). Penny loafers attested from 1960.

As in dear : adj very expensive
As in expensive : adj high-priced
As in : noun very large treasure

Example sentences :

Heaven knew, too, that this folly of his had cost him a pretty penny, first and last.
Extract from : « The Black Bag » by Louis Joseph Vance

I'll wager a pretty penny they won't let either of us go now!
Extract from : « Boy Scouts Mysterious Signal » by G. Harvey Ralphson

All this furniture had come from Germany, and must have cost a pretty penny.
Extract from : « Good Old Anna » by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Why, your passage by the Lucania alone must have cost a pretty penny.
Extract from : « Marriage la mode » by Mrs. Humphry Ward

When he goes to the worms Miss Sylvia will have a pretty penny.
Extract from : « The Opal Serpent » by Fergus Hume

All the same, I expect this business will cost a pretty penny if Fargis is afraid of you.'
Extract from : « Chatterbox, 1906 » by Various

The carving was beginning to bring in what Isel called “a pretty penny.”
Extract from : « One Snowy Night » by Emily Sarah Holt

I'm not long for this world, and you've cost me a pretty penny, my dear; but it's all right.
Extract from : « IT and Other Stories » by Gouverneur Morris

He bought them for your uncle, at your father's sale, and a pretty penny they cost.
Extract from : « Old Valentines » by Munson Aldrich Havens

Before we were all properly equipped it would cost a pretty penny.
Extract from : « Carl and the Cotton Gin » by Sara Ware Bassett

Synonyms for pretty penny

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019