Meanings
- not comparableAs an absolute imperative; sparing no effort or expense
We have to retain the majority at all costs.
1 more example
Of course, closure of the West station took away the hotel's raison d'être. In May 2012, the local newspaper reported that this historic hotel, by then rated the town's worst (exemplified by its final review: "Please avoid at all costs"), was to be converted into 31 first-time-buyer one-bedroom flats.
2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60Synonyms: at any cost, at any risk, at all risks, by any means, no matter what, for any sake, for any sakes
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbAs an absolute imperative; sparing no effort or expense
More synonyms by meaning
adverbregardless of the cost involved
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic بِأَيِّ ثَمَنٍ
- بِأَيِّ ثَمَنٍ (biʔayyi ṯamanin)sparing no effort
Bulgarian на всяка цена
- на всяка цена (na vsjaka cena)sparing no effort
Catalan a tot preu, costi el que costi
- a tot preusparing no effort
- costi el que costisparing no effort
Chinese Mandarin 無論如何 /无论如何, 不惜一切代價 /不惜一切代价
- 無論如何 /无论如何 (wúlùnrúhé)sparing no effort
- 不惜一切代價 /不惜一切代价 (bùxī yīqiè dàijià)sparing no effort
Czech za každou cenu
- za každou cenusparing no effort
Danish for enhver pris
- for enhver prissparing no effort
Dutch koste wat kost, coûte que coûte
- koste wat kostsparing no effort
- coûte que coûtesparing no effort
- tegen elke prijssparing no effort
Esperanto ĉiakoste
- ĉiakostesparing no effort
Finnish maksoi mitä maksoi, hinnalla millä hyvänsä
- maksoi mitä maksoisparing no effort
- hinnalla millä hyvänsäsparing no effort
French à tout prix, coûte que coûte
- à tout prixsparing no effort
- coûte que coûtesparing no effort
German um jeden Preis, koste es, was es wolle
- um jeden Preissparing no effort
- koste es, was es wollesparing no effort
- was es auch kostesparing no effort
Greek πάση θυσία, με κάθε κόστος
- πάση θυσία (pási thysía)sparing no effort
- με κάθε κόστος (me káthe kóstos)sparing no effort
Hungarian bármi áron
- bármi áronsparing no effort
Irish cóir máireach
- cóir máireachsparing no effort
Italian a ogni costo, ad ogni costo
- a ogni costosparing no effort
- ad ogni costosparing no effort
- a tutti i costisparing no effort
Japanese 万難を排して, 何が何でも
- 万難を排して (bannan o hai shite)sparing no effort
- 何が何でも (nani ga nan demo)sparing no effort
Latvian par katru cenu
- par katru cenusparing no effort
Persian به هر قیمتی که شده, به هر قیمتی
- به هر قیمتی که شده (be har qeymati ke šode)sparing no effort
- به هر قیمتی (be har qeymati)sparing no effort
Polish za wszelką cenę
- za wszelką cenęsparing no effort
Portuguese custe o que custar, a todo custo
- custe o que custarsparing no effort
- a todo custosparing no effort
Romanian cu orice preț
- cu orice prețsparing no effort
Russian любо́й цено́й, во что́ бы то ни ста́ло
- любо́й цено́й (ljubój cenój)sparing no effort
- во что́ бы то ни ста́ло (vo štó by to ni stálo)sparing no effort
Scottish Gaelic air a h-uile cor
- air a h-uile corsparing no effort
Spanish a cualquier precio, a toda costa
- a cualquier preciosparing no effort
- a toda costasparing no effort
- cueste lo que cuestesparing no effort
- costase / costara lo que costase / costarasparing no effort
- costare lo que costaresparing no effort
- no importa el costo / costesparing no effort
- sin importar el costo / costesparing no effort
- a todo trancesparing no effort
- a rajatablasparing no effort
- a ultranzasparing no effort
Swedish till varje pris, kosta vad det kosta vill
- till varje prissparing no effort
- kosta vad det kosta villsparing no effort
Ukrainian за будь-яку́ ціну́, за вся́ку ціну́
- за будь-яку́ ціну́ (za budʹ-jakú cinú)sparing no effort
- за вся́ку ціну́ (za vsjáku cinú)sparing no effort
Vietnamese bằng mọi giá
- bằng mọi giásparing no effort
Cite this entry
at all costs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20all%20costs
“at all costs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20all%20costs. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “at all costs,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/at%20all%20costs.
Source: at all costs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.