costful

English

Etymology

From Middle English costful, equivalent to cost +‎ -ful. Perhaps influenced by Middle English costful (“fraught with hardship”), a different word.

Adjective

costful (comparative more costful, superlative most costful)

1. (archaic) Expensive; sumptuous
2. Indicative of expenditure or loss; costly
   • 1965, Bertie Charles Forbes, Forbes, volume 95, page 78:

     The fight against improved means, methods and materials in the construction industry, in shipping by rail or by sea, in the printing industry and most everywhere has been hugely costful to American consumers and involves a great waste of resources.

Derived terms

• costfully