at the expense of
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
with a disadvantage or loss to something or someone
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
với bất lợi hoặc tổn thất cho ai đó hoặc thứ gì
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: paid for by
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He gained success at the expense of his health
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “at the expense of” mean?
with a disadvantage or loss to something or someone Literally: paid for by
Is “at the expense of” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.