Dictionary — Entry No. 0744
비싸다
bishida · adjective
비싸다
bishida
[BEE-ssa-da]
adjectivebeginner
Meaning
Dictionary form meaning ‘to be expensive.’ In everyday speech you’ll hear 비싸요 (polite) or 비싸 (casual). Used when reacting to a price that feels too high. The direct opposite of 싸다 (cheap).
K-Pop & K-Drama Context
Shopping in Gangnam or Cheongdam-dong — Seoul’s luxury districts — means encountering 비싸다 everywhere. K-Dramas like The Heirs (상속자들) are set among the ultra-wealthy who never even think it. BLACKPINK’s luxury brand ambassador roles — Chanel, Dior, Celine — have made 비싸다 a defining part of their aesthetic: their world is expensive by design.
Example Sentences
이거 너무 비싸! 다른 데 가서 사자.
Igeo neomu bissa! Dareun de gaseo saja.
This is too expensive! Let’s go buy it somewhere else. (casual — among friends shopping together)
서울 집값이 정말 비싸요.
Seoul jipgap-i jeongmal bissayo.
Housing prices in Seoul are really expensive. (a deeply relatable topic for Koreans of all ages)
비싸긴 해도 퀄리티가 좋아서 살 만해요.
Bissagin haedo kweolliti-ga johaso sal man-haeyo.
It is expensive, but the quality is good so it’s worth buying. (비싸긴 해도 = ‘it’s expensive, but…’ — the classic justification for a splurge)
⚠️ Don’t use bishida when…
Don’t confuse 비싸다 with 비슷하다 (to be similar) — they sound slightly alike to new learners. Also, the ㅆ in 비싸 is a tensed consonant (된소리): it sounds like a sharp, clipped ‘ss,’ distinctly different from a soft ‘s.’
🎵 Heard In
- K-Drama: The Heirs (상속자들) — Eun-sang stares at a price tag in the wealthy students’ favorite café and mouths 비싸, the wealth gap between her world and theirs captured in one silent word.
- K-Pop: BLACKPINK — How You Like That
ℹ️ Editorial Note: The cultural context and example usage are for educational reference only. Artist names, song titles, and drama references are used descriptively to illustrate vocabulary in context. This content is AI-assisted and reviewed for accuracy. For official information, please refer to the respective artists’ or studios’ official channels.