Word.ws English Dictionary

bargain basement

bargain basement noun: an area within a retail store, especially an area located below ground level, where the least costly merchandise can be found.

Noun

bargain basement (plural bargain basements)

  1. An area within a retail store, especially an area located below ground level, where the least costly merchandise can be found.
    • "Where will I find an aluminum cooking pot?" growled the elder Beagle unexpectedly.
      "In the Bargain Basement," said Gissing promptly.1922, Christopher Morley, chapter 6, in Where the Blue Begins
    • To proper Bostonians […] it was not quite a riot: it was merely the first big postwar men's-wear sale at Filene's bargain basement.1949 April 11, “Business & Finance: Basement Bedlam”, in Time, retrieved 05 Aug 2013

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
    • When you shoot an animal in Mozambique, as in many African countries, you must pay a predetermined sum. Stones offers the menu on his website: impalas ($600) and warthogs ($700) are the bargain basement. He could arrange for you to shoot a crocodile or even a hippopotamus, if you so wish, for a...2026 April 21, Cal Flyn, “On the trail with the hunters who believe shooting big game can save Africa’s wildlife”, in The Guardian
  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
    • "We are not going to ask the brave young men and women who defend this country to put their lives on the line using obsolete weapons and bargain-basement equipment."1984 March 27, “Democrats Stall Anti-crime Bill, Reagan Hints”, in Schenectady Gazette, retrieved 05 Aug 2013, page 12

Forms of bargain basement

Noun
pluralbargain basements
Adjective
comparativemore bargain basement
superlativemost bargain basement

Questions about bargain basement

What does bargain basement mean?
Bargain basement means an area within a retail store, especially an area located below ground level, where the least costly merchandise can be found.
What part of speech is bargain basement?
Bargain basement can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of bargain basement?
The plural of bargain basement is bargain basements.

Words near bargain basement in the dictionary

  1. bargain
  2. bargain agent
  3. bargain agents
  4. bargain and sale
  5. bargain away
  6. bargain basement
  7. bargain basements
  8. bargain bin
  9. bargain bins
  10. bargain bucket
  11. bargain buckets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-bargain basement.ogg.

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