good value meaning: definition, quotations

good value

noun

Something that is well worth the money paid for it.

it's not cheap, it's good value
It is no matter how high-priced a sheep is, just so he is a good value.1910, Iowa Department of Agriculture, The Iowa Year Book of Agriculture, volume 10, page 475:

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Moreover, today we meet Bridie in theatre far too seldom : he is a better value, and more likely to live in record, than the modish mayflies of our stage.1960, The Illustrated London News, volume 237, number 1, page 202:
She is a good value at £594 in standard form, but a suitable 40 hp engine and a trailer would raise the total price to well over £1000 (Microplas Ltd., Homewood Road, Mitcham, Surrey).1973, The Autocar, volume 138, page 11:
1983, The Month, Issues 1384-1395, page 66, Audiences fill theatres where his work is staged. He is a good value. He never fails, which is not to say he always succeeds.
The announcement of the Railways Bill on November 5 included comments that rolling stock owning companies (ROSCOs) must provide good value for money.2025 November 26, David Stubbings, “News: Rolling stock strategy 'will give clarity'”, in RAIL, number 1049, page 6:

Australia, UK, Idiomatic, Slang Someone who is friendly and easy-going.

He is a good value—earnest, sympathetic, solid to the bone and not overcomplicated—just the way you′d hope your undertaker would be.2007, Richard Ford, The Lay of the Land, page 95:

Australia, UK, Idiomatic, Slang Someone who is funny or witty.

‘Not anymore,’ she said, quickly ‘But he′s worth his weight in gold at a party. He always has something to say, and most of the time it′s interesting. That reflects well on me for inviting him.’ ‘He is a good value.’2003, David Philip Reiter, Interactive Publications, Liars and Lovers, page 79:
Hugh Grant is always good value, and Martin Freeman and Joanna Page do very well as a couple who fall in love while working as stand-ins for what is apparently an expensively produced hardcore porn film.2003 November 21, Peter Bradshaw, “Love Actually”, in The Guardian:

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Friday, 17 July 1981 Yesterday: morning with Germaine Greer – she is a good value, stimulating company and completely ridiculous: for the original feminist she is hilariously man-mad.2010, Gyles Brandreth, Something Sensational to Read in the Train: The Diary of a Lifetime, unnumbered page: