Outpriced

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have an assigned cost that is higher than what consumers can afford
2. Having a price level that is above what buyers are willing or able to pay
3. Assigned a cost that exceeds the market or consumer budget causing loss of sales

Etymology: "Outpriced" is the past tense and past participle of "outprice," a verb formed by attaching the prefix "out-" to "price." The prefix carries the sense of surpassing or exceeding, so to outprice something is to set or be set a price beyond what a given market or buyer can bear. In that sense, a product that has been outpriced is one that has lost its sales because it costs more than people are willing or able to pay. The construction is transparent: "price," from Old French "preis" and ultimately from Latin "pretium," meaning value or worth, combined with "out-," a productive English prefix used in many verbs such as "outrun," "outlive," and "outperform." Because both parts are ordinary English elements, the word needed no special coinage and reads as a straightforward compound of its two parts.

Synonyms: overpriced, exorbitant

Antonyms: bargained, discounted