To choose a cheaper, inferior option when a better one was expected or appropriate.
To be too cheap and choose a worse option to save money, when you should have spent more.
One main meaning — here's how to use it.
To choose a cheaper, lower-quality option when something better was expected, typically due to a desire to save money.
"They really cheapened out on the wedding venue — you could tell they'd spent almost nothing on decoration."
To cheapen out — to choose the cheaper option and thereby exit from quality or expectations.
To be too cheap and choose a worse option to save money, when you should have spent more.
A less common variant of 'cheap out'. Carries a negative, critical tone — implying the person made a disappointing or unworthy choice. More common in American English informal speech. Not widely used by most native speakers.
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
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