cost-effective

有成本效益的，划得来的

【例】They discovered that it was more cost-effective to import textiles from China than to manufacture them at home.

他们发现了从中国进口纺织品比在国内制造更合算。

costly

昂贵的，代价很高的

【例】Usually marine insurance is not very costly.

通常海运保险并不十分昂贵。

cost-of-living

生活费用的

cost of living用作定语时要写作cost-of-living。

【例】Because of rising prices, the government paid a cost-of-living bonus to the workers.

由于物价上涨，政府给工人们发了生活补贴。