French word

chèrement

Pronunciation

IPA/ʃɛʁəmɑ̃/

Meaning

  • adverbdearly

Example

Il facture chèrement ses services.

He charges dearly for his services.

Illustration for chèrement (dearly)

More examples

Tu vas payer chèrement cette erreur.

You're going to pay dearly for this mistake.

Core concept

A large bill or a heavy price attached to a purchase, choice, or mistake.

Common phrases

  • payer chèrement

    pay dearly

  • faire payer chèrement

    make ___ pay dearly

Similar words

coûteusement: In a way that incurs high costs.
excessivement: To an excessive degree beyond what is reasonable.
exorbitamment: At an extremely high and unreasonable price.

Definition in French

Sert à dire qu'une dépense est importante ou qu'une action entraîne un coût élevé, littéral ou figuré.

Word origin

Chèrement is formed from Old French cher with the adverbial suffix -ment, while cher descends from Latin carus, meaning 'dear' or 'costly'.

Usage tips

  • Chèrement often occurs in payer chèrement, where the thing paid for can be an error, defeat, or other nonfinancial consequence.

Opposites

  • bon marchécheaplyadverb

Related words

  • cherexpensiveadjective
  • chertéhigh costnoun

Word lists with this word