1. 两者都可表示“昂贵的”：expensive 通常指物美价高, 非购买者财力所能及；dear 主要指普通日用品因暂时的供应不足而造成的价格上涨。如：
It is expensive to stay in that hotel. 住那家旅馆很贵。
Living in the country is less expensive than in the city. 住在乡间比住在城里花钱少。
He gives expensive gifts to his family for Christmas. 他给家里人买昂贵的圣诞礼物。
Bananas are very dear this week. 这个星期香蕉很贵。
2. 两者虽然都表示“贵”，但主要用于说明具体的事物，而不用于说明 price，如“这外套太贵”译成英语不能是：The price of the coat is too expensive. 可改为：The coat is too expensive.
单词：expensive的近义词、反义词、形近词辨析
cheap/cheat/expensive/expense/spend/compensate/compensation
记忆：
1. cheap P 音“便” adj. 便宜的 Do you think cheaper goods are more worth buying? 你认为东西越便宜越值得买吗？
2. cheat 音“欺的”欺骗的，n. & v. 欺骗，骗子 No cheat can cheat all his life. 骗子骗得了一时，骗不了一生。
3. spend [ spend ] 词根pens, pend 表示“use up”， vt. 花。 I used to spend a lot of time on games.我曾经在玩游戏方面画了大量的时间。 注意：spend time in doing something. spend time/money on something
4. ex-， 出去；expense n. 花出去的钱，开支，支出 How can we reduce the expense? 我们怎样才能减少开支？
5. 加形容词后缀-ive, expensive adj. 花钱的，昂贵的，高档的 The goods in an expensive shop are more expensive than in other places. 在高档商店里的东西要比其他地方的东西贵。
6. compensate com-pens-ate ， v. 偿还, 补偿 Nothing can compensate for the loss of time. 什么也补偿不了失去的时间。
7. compensation n. 补偿, 赔偿 They were not satisfied with the compensation the company had offered.他们对公司提出的补偿方案不满意。
另类阅读：
What an expense! He cheated you by selling a cheap chip like an expensive one. And nothing can compensate for your loss.
与单词：expensive 相关的例句或者名人名言
These grapes would soon be turned into expensive wine.
这些葡萄很快会被制成昂贵的葡萄酒。
My house is my most expensive possession.
我的房子是我最贵重的财产。
These days it is getting very expensive to travel by plane.
当今，飞机旅行很贵。
Cigarettes are getting more expensive every year.
香烟的价格都一年比一年贵。
It seems expensive.
似乎贵了些。
表示价格贵的词还有 dear 、 costly ，区别如下：
dear 侧重指要价过高，或远高于公正、合理的价格，其反义词是 cheap 。
expensive 指物品的价格超过了它本身所值，或超过了购置者的支付能力。
costly 指物品价格高，通常是因物品稀少或珍贵所致。
例句： "They gad about Europe a lot , going to expensive restaurants and shows ."
他们下高级馆子，享受高级娱乐，可把欧洲逛了个够。
