"sticker shock" meaning in English

See sticker shock in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-sticker shock.ogg [Australia] Forms: sticker shocks [plural]
Etymology: Coined circa 1981, in reference to price stickers affixed to items for sale. Head templates: {{en-noun|-|s}} sticker shock (usually uncountable, plural sticker shocks)
  1. (idiomatic, chiefly US) Disgust, shock, or fright upon learning the price of an item offered for sale. Tags: US, idiomatic, uncountable, usually Derived forms: sticker-shocked
    Sense id: en-sticker_shock-en-noun-fA-y5R7S Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for sticker shock meaning in English (2.8kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "Coined circa 1981, in reference to price stickers affixed to items for sale.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sticker shocks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "sticker shock (usually uncountable, plural sticker shocks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "sticker-shocked"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1981 November 9, P. Witteman, K. Pierce, “Going from Bad to Even Worse”, in Time",
          "text": "Last week Jensen returned to his dealer's showroom to eye the new Continental, but he quickly became another victim of what Detroit calls \"sticker shock.\" The price on the car's window: $25,692. Says he: \"Damn, that is expensive! It persuaded me to keep driving my '80 until it won't go any more.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1996 Dec, Ed Henry, Taking on Sticker Shock, Kiplinger's Personal Finance",
          "text": "Now the 1997 model year brings a slew of new and redesigned models that tackle sticker shock head-on.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 August 8, Nicole Hong, “$15 French Fries and $18 Sandwiches: Inflation Hits New York”, in New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "This was supposed to be a summer of long-awaited celebrations in New York City, the return of a packed calendar full of birthday dinners and happy hours. But New Yorkers are confronting sticker shock everywhere they look, whether they’re shopping for barbecue supplies at the grocery store, ordering a beer after work or grabbing a late-night slice of pizza.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 June 10, Tim Hayward, “The pie's the limit”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 2",
          "text": "But we have been educated, by a warped system, to believe that food is cheap as of right. That is why many of us are now suffering sticker shock when we eat out.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Disgust, shock, or fright upon learning the price of an item offered for sale."
      ],
      "id": "en-sticker_shock-en-noun-fA-y5R7S",
      "links": [
        [
          "Disgust",
          "disgust"
        ],
        [
          "fright",
          "fright"
        ],
        [
          "price",
          "price"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, chiefly US) Disgust, shock, or fright upon learning the price of an item offered for sale."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sticker shock.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-sticker_shock.ogg/En-au-sticker_shock.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-sticker_shock.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sticker shock"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "sticker-shocked"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Coined circa 1981, in reference to price stickers affixed to items for sale.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sticker shocks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "sticker shock (usually uncountable, plural sticker shocks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1981 November 9, P. Witteman, K. Pierce, “Going from Bad to Even Worse”, in Time",
          "text": "Last week Jensen returned to his dealer's showroom to eye the new Continental, but he quickly became another victim of what Detroit calls \"sticker shock.\" The price on the car's window: $25,692. Says he: \"Damn, that is expensive! It persuaded me to keep driving my '80 until it won't go any more.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1996 Dec, Ed Henry, Taking on Sticker Shock, Kiplinger's Personal Finance",
          "text": "Now the 1997 model year brings a slew of new and redesigned models that tackle sticker shock head-on.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 August 8, Nicole Hong, “$15 French Fries and $18 Sandwiches: Inflation Hits New York”, in New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "This was supposed to be a summer of long-awaited celebrations in New York City, the return of a packed calendar full of birthday dinners and happy hours. But New Yorkers are confronting sticker shock everywhere they look, whether they’re shopping for barbecue supplies at the grocery store, ordering a beer after work or grabbing a late-night slice of pizza.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 June 10, Tim Hayward, “The pie's the limit”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 2",
          "text": "But we have been educated, by a warped system, to believe that food is cheap as of right. That is why many of us are now suffering sticker shock when we eat out.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Disgust, shock, or fright upon learning the price of an item offered for sale."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Disgust",
          "disgust"
        ],
        [
          "fright",
          "fright"
        ],
        [
          "price",
          "price"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, chiefly US) Disgust, shock, or fright upon learning the price of an item offered for sale."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-sticker shock.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-sticker_shock.ogg/En-au-sticker_shock.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-sticker_shock.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sticker shock"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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