Phrase guide

price gouging

noun · verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of or an instance of charging services or pricing goods at unreasonably high prices.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: business, economics, sciences

Examples

  • The farmers aren't really guilty of price gouging, but they are trying to recoup some of their losses from the flooding earlier this spring.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

present participle and gerund of price gouge

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

pricing above the market price when no alternative retailer is available

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pricing

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: woeker — act of or an instance of charging services or pricing goods at unreasonably high prices
  • German: Wucher — act of or an instance of charging services or pricing goods at unreasonably high prices
  • Spanish: inflamiento de precios — act of or an instance of charging services or pricing goods at unreasonably high prices