Word.ws English Dictionary

bargain-basement

bargain-basement is the alternative form of bargain basement.

Meaning of bargain basement

Adjective

bargain basement (comparative more bargain basement, superlative most bargain basement)

  1. (derogatory, figuratively) Inexpensive.
    • But it’s also a sign of the ascendant state of clowning, which, not long ago, resided in the bargain basement of artistic respect, alongside ventriloquists, mimes and jugglers. No longer.2025 October 7, Jason Zinoman, “What Clowns! (That’s a Compliment)”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
  2. (attributive, derogatory, figuratively) Of poor quality; of little or no value; low-end, shoddy.
    • "This nation can't afford bargain-basement cops any more," says Oregon's Multnomah County (Portland) Sheriff Donald Clark […]. Almost everyone agrees that U.S. police sorely need more education.1965 July 30, “The Law: Police: Deputy Doe, B.A.”, in Time, retrieved 05 Aug 2013

See all 3 meanings of bargain basement

Forms of bargain-basement

Adjective
comparativemore bargain-basement
superlativemost bargain-basement
Noun
pluralbargain-basements

Questions about bargain-basement

What is bargain-basement the alternative form of?
Bargain-basement is the alternative form of bargain basement.

Words near bargain-basement in the dictionary

  1. bargain buckets
  2. bargain for
  3. bargain hunter
  4. bargain hunters
  5. bargain on
  6. bargain-basement
  7. bargain-basements
  8. bargainable
  9. bargained
  10. bargained away
  11. bargained for

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bargain-basement (page history and authors); bargain basement (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “bargain-basement.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bargain-basement. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.