ten-cent

adjective

two-bit (insignificant or worthless); cheap (both inexpensive and poorly made).

“Forget that frickin' ten-cent supplier. From now on, we'll buy only from trusted partners.”

Similar
poor man'sdollar-storeWish.comPoundlandpound-shopTesco ValueBTEC
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Meanings

adjectiveten-cent (not generally comparable, comparative more ten-cent, superlative most ten-cent)

comparative more ten-cent · superlative most ten-cent

  1. datedidiomaticnot comparableusuallytwo-bit (insignificant or worthless); cheap (both inexpensive and poorly made).

    Forget that frickin' ten-cent supplier. From now on, we'll buy only from trusted partners.

    2 more examples

    Near-synonyms: poor man's; (present-day analogues) dollar-store, Wish.com, (UK) Poundland, pound-shop, Tesco Value, BTEC

    Enough of these ten-cent tools. From now on, we'll buy only the good stuff that doesn't break so easily.

    Synonyms: poor man's, dollar-store, Wish.com, Poundland, pound-shop, Tesco Value, BTEC

  2. datednot comparableusuallyUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see ten, cent: costing 10¢.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivetwo-bit (insignificant or worthless); cheap (both inexpensive and poorly made).

Similar
poor man'sdollar-storeWish.comPoundlandpound-shopTesco ValueBTEC
Also see
dollar-storenickel and dimetwo-bit

Origin

From a time when 10¢ was a commonly encountered price for cheap goods and services.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ten-cent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ten-cent

MLA

“ten-cent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ten-cent. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ten-cent,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ten-cent.

Source: ten-cent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.