(slang, often capitalized) A mock-honorific title given to a particular person who is stingy.
Don't expect a big tip from El Cheapo over there.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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(slang) A person who is stingy; a miser.
He's such an el cheapo that his wallet hasn't been opened for days.
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(slang) Cheap; inexpensive; of low quality.
I only had five bucks, so I bought the el cheapo headphones.
"el cheapo" means: Cheap; inexpensive; of low quality.. This is informal slang, common in casual speech, texting and social media, but not appropriate for school work, applications or professional settings. There is no real cause for concern in itself; it is everyday peer vocabulary. If your child uses it, a light comment about audience and register is usually enough — no need to escalate. Context, more than the word, tells you whether to follow up.
"el cheapo" means: Cheap; inexpensive; of low quality.. Register: informal slang, fine in casual conversation, texting and social media but not in academic essays, business writing or formal speech. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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