Dirt cheap
Meaning
Something that is dirt cheap is extremely inexpensive, costing very little money.
Origin
Imagine a time before paved roads and manicured lawns, when dirt was simply everywhere—an unending, worthless commodity underfoot. For centuries, English speakers described anything of negligible value or extreme abundance as "like dirt" or "as common as dirt." By the 19th century, this humble ground became the ultimate benchmark for cheapness. The phrase "cheap as dirt" solidified, painting a vivid picture of something so easily acquired, it might as well have been scooped up from the roadside. Soon after, the more punchy and emphatic "dirt cheap" emerged, stripping away the comparison and directly stating that the item's price rivaled the value of mere earth itself—utterly worthless, yet available to all.
Examples
- I managed to buy this vintage coat dirt cheap at the flea market last weekend.
- With the holiday sales, you can often find electronics dirt cheap if you're patient enough to wait for the best deals.