affordable

affordable — adjective

1. priced low enough that you can buy it or pay for it without money trouble.

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

priced low enough that you can buy it or pay for it without money trouble.

Example

These winter shoes are affordable even on a teacher's monthly budget.

affordable + budget context

At the night market, Leo found an affordable bowl of beef noodles.

Common collocations
  • affordable price
  • affordable option
  • affordable meal
  • affordable phone plan
  • affordable for families
Synonyms
  • inexpensive

    directly says the price is low, without focusing on a person's budget

  • cheap

    more casual and can suggest low quality as well as low price

  • reasonably priced

    neutral phrase often used for shops, meals, and services

  • budget

    usually before a noun and often used in advertising for low-cost choices

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

something is affordable

affordable for someone

affordable to someone

Usage Note

Often used for prices, products, trips, meals, and services. The person who can pay may appear with 'for' or 'to', but 'for' is more common in everyday English.

Common Mistakes

This laptop is cheap for me.
This laptop is affordable for me.
'cheap' only describes a low price; 'affordable' connects the price to what you can pay.

2. used especially about homes and rent that people on lower incomes can still pay

2.adjectiveB1
Definition

used especially about homes and rent that people on lower incomes can still pay for.

Example

The town built affordable apartments near the train station for nurses.

affordable + housing noun

After the rent increase, few affordable homes remained in the old district.

Common collocations
  • affordable housing
  • affordable homes
  • affordable rent
  • affordable apartments
  • affordable rental units
Synonyms
  • low-cost

    broad cost label that can describe homes, rents, or building plans

  • subsidized

    only fits when the cost is reduced by government or another group

  • below-market

    more formal and common in housing-policy language

Antonyms
  • unaffordable

    too expensive for the people who need it

  • luxury

    describes housing aimed at people with much more money

Grammar Patterns

affordable housing

affordable home

affordable rent

Usage Note

Usually appears before nouns such as 'housing', 'home', 'rent', and 'apartment', and it often comes up in public policy. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is specifically about places to live.

Common Mistakes

The city is building cheap housing for nurses.
The city is building affordable housing for nurses.
'cheap housing' can suggest poor quality, while 'affordable housing' stresses that the price matches people's income.

Word family

  • afford
    verbB1
  • affordability
    nounC1
  • affordably
    adverbC1
  • unaffordable
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Affordable' and 'inexpensive' both point to a low price, but 'affordable' adds the idea of a real person's budget: something may be inexpensive in general yet still not affordable for a student. 'Cheap' is common in speech, but it can suggest poor quality, so it is not always a safe substitute. 'Budget' usually comes before a noun and is often used in travel, shopping, and advertising for low-cost choices. 'Reasonable' often describes a price that feels fair rather than especially low. For example, a cafe meal can be inexpensive, a train pass affordable for a family, a cheap toy may break quickly, a budget hotel keeps costs down, and a reasonable fee feels worth paying.

affordable ↗cheap ↗inexpensive ↗budget ↗reasonable ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • affordable option
  • affordable price
  • affordable choice
  • affordable rate

Adverbs

  • more affordable
  • less affordable
  • surprisingly affordable
  • still affordable

Phrases

  • make something more affordable
  • safe and affordable
  • remain affordable

Prepositions

  • affordable for (someone)
  • affordable to (someone)

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Affordable was formed in English from the verb 'afford' and the suffix '-able'. The adjective is recorded from the 1600s. The older verb goes back through Middle English to Old English forms related to the idea of bringing something forward or providing it, and from that English developed the modern money sense 'be able to pay for'.