How to Use costly in a Sentence

costly

adjective
Definition of costlynext
Synonyms for costlynext
  • The decision to wait could be a costly mistake.
  • They won the game, but their best player was injured, so it was a costly victory.
  • It was too costly to fix her car after the accident, so she decided to buy a new car instead.
  • We use less costly materials in our products.
  • Analysts have said the months of bloody fighting in Bakhmut have been costly for both sides.
    — Jennifer Hassan, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2023
  • For retailers, however, the last mile is proving to be the longest and most costly.
    — Greg Petro, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
  • District trustees called a costly May special election, knowing that voter turnout would be low.
    — Mercury News & East Bay Times Editorial, The Mercury News, 2 Nov. 2024
  • Specialist visits and prescription drugs can be costly too.
    — Aria Bendix, NBC News, 11 Mar. 2023
  • The bill claimed that upholding the act would lead to a lengthy and costly court battle that would ultimately fall on taxpayers.
    — Sarah Swetlik | Sswetlik@al.com, al, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Private donations aside, the bet could be costly for Suckow or Crumley.
    — John Sharp | , al, 13 Mar. 2023
  • Except that these energy sources are more costly and less stable than fossil-fuel or nuclear workhorses.
    — Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 25 Feb. 2023
  • But fighting it would likely lead to litigation, another costly prospect.
    — Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
  • This cash reserve also acts as an emotional buffer, reducing the anxiety that can lead to impulsive, costly decisions.
    — John Jennings, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2024
  • The plan to make residents whole will be costly, something noted by Fitch Ratings, which placed a negative credit rating watch on Lifespace because of it.
    — Natalie Walters, Dallas News, 14 Mar. 2023
  • Still, the Bud Light saga has been a costly one for the brewer.
    — Dee-Ann Durbin, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2023
  • The Rays worked two walks to begin the game and both free passes proved costly.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 5 July 2024
  • But in the long run, not leveraging AI at all will be even costlier.
    — Alon Goren, Forbes, 20 Sep. 2024
  • Renting near the beach has never looked so good — or so costly.
    — Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Feb. 2024
  • More chefs will get out of the hamster wheel of costly meal creation and will set up shop in smaller, more low-key places.
    — Dana McMahan, The Courier-Journal, 28 Mar. 2023
  • The sale of assets, including the home, cars, etc., can also be costly.
    — Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 7 May 2024
  • The final preseason game against the Chiefs was costly for the Browns from an injury standpoint.
    — cleveland, 26 Aug. 2023
  • Caveat: The numbers in last week's report are estimates and hosting the Games could grow more costly over the next decade.
    — Kim Bojórquez, Axios, 16 July 2024
  • Rebuilding the span will be a costly endeavor, but bills for the cleanup process have started to come in, too.
    — Hayes Gardner, Baltimore Sun, 25 June 2024
  • Until that kind of scale is achieved, the transition will continue to be a costly grind.
    — Tom Randall, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2023
  • While special needs students are more costly, their needs cannot be used to reduce the budget.
    — Madeleine Parrish, The Arizona Republic, 2 Oct. 2024
  • According to Sky News, this is the most costly Olympic construction project yet.
    — Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 18 Mar. 2024
  • Researchers have pointed out that this will be a slow and costly endeavour.
    — Nature Magazine, Scientific American, 13 Nov. 2023
  • The primates will even climb to higher ground to scope out their surroundings and avoid other groups, since fights would be costly.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Winter expected to be costlier for those who heat with oil.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Generally, the longer the CD term length, the costlier the withdrawal penalty.
    — Elizabeth Gravier, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'costly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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