at the expense of

English

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at the expense of

preposition at one's expense

Paid for by an individual or group.
broadly, idiomatic At one's responsibility.
figuratively In a way as to harm somebody or something; to the detriment of. Bengali, like other Aryan languages of India, has spread, and is still spreading, at the expense of the aboriginal tongues.
figuratively Of a joke, deriding someone.

Translations

Every language

prep paid for by an individual or group

Español	a expensas de, a costa de, a costo/coste de, a cuenta de, por cuenta de
Português	por conta de
Français	à ses frais
Deutsch	auf Rechnung
العربية	عَلَى حِسَابِ ʕalā ḥisābi, عَلَى نَفَقَةِ ʕalā nafaqati

prep in a way as to harm somebody or something

Español	a costa de, a costo/coste de, a cuenta de, a expensas de, en detrimento de
Português	à custa de, às custas de
Français	au détriment de
Deutsch	auf Kosten, zum Schaden
العربية	عَلَى حِسَابِ ʕalā ḥisābi

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MLA

"at the expense of." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/at%20the%20expense%20of. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

at the expense of. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/at%20the%20expense%20of

Chicago

"at the expense of." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/at%20the%20expense%20of.

BibTeX

@misc{at_the_expense_of_2026,
  title = {at the expense of},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/at%20the%20expense%20of},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}