Smithfield bargain

noun

A bargain in which the buyer of something is taken advantage of; a rip-off.

First used 17th–19th c.
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Meanings

nounSmithfield bargain (plural Smithfield bargains)

plural Smithfield bargains

  1. obsoleteA bargain in which the buyer of something is taken advantage of; a rip-off.First known use 17th–19th c.
  2. obsoleteA marriage made for convenience, especially for financial reasons.First known use 17th–19th c.

    VVhy, is it not provoking; vvhen I thought vve vvere coming to the prettieſt diſtreſs imaginable, to find myſelf made a mere Smithfield bargain of at laſt— […]

    1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 84
Cite this entry
APA

Smithfield bargain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Smithfield%20bargain

MLA

“Smithfield bargain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Smithfield%20bargain. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Smithfield bargain,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Smithfield%20bargain.

Source: Smithfield bargain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.