at the expense of

ex·pense

A a

Definitions of at the expense of words

phrase at the expense of If you achieve something at the expense of someone, you do it in a way which might cause them some harm or disadvantage. 3
phrase at the expense of If you say that someone does something at the expense of another thing, you are expressing concern at the fact that they are not doing the second thing, because the first thing uses all their resources. 3
noun at the expense of to the detriment of 3
noun at the expense of with the payment, onus, loss, etc. borne by 3
noun at the expense of cost or charge: the expense of a good meal. 1
noun at the expense of a cause or occasion of spending: A car can be a great expense. 1

before 1350

One of the 20% oldest English words

1350-1400; Middle English < Late Latin expēnsa, noun use of feminine of expēnsus, past participle of expendere to expend

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 97% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

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