paid-for

IPA/pˈeɪdfɔː/
IPA/pˈeɪdfɔːɹ/

paid-for — adjective

1. describing a service, product, or piece of content that someone has to pay money

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

describing a service, product, or piece of content that someone has to pay money to use or read, rather than getting it without charge

Example

Harper switched from the free trial to a paid-for subscription after the first month.

paid-for subscription as the typical noun pairing

The news site mixes free articles with paid-for content behind a login wall.

paid-for content contrasted with free articles

Common collocations
  • paid-for content
  • paid-for subscription
  • paid-for service
  • paid-for app
Synonyms
  • premium

    is the marketing-friendly word for paid-for digital tiers

  • subscription-based

    specifies that the payment is recurring rather than one-off

  • fee-based

    is more formal and common in service or membership contexts

Antonyms
  • free

    is the everyday opposite when contrasting unpaid versions

  • ad-supported

    describes free content that earns money through advertising instead

Grammar Patterns

paid-for + noun

paid-for content

paid-for subscription

Usage Note

Almost always sits directly before a noun (subscription, content, service, app). Rarely used after the verb be; for that, switch to 'paid for' as two words, e.g. 'the meal was paid for'.

Common Mistakes

The subscription is paid-for.
The subscription is paid for.
when the phrase follows the verb be, drop the hyphen and use two words.
a paid-for of news
a paid-for source of news
paid-for is an adjective, so a noun must follow it.

Word family

Common collocations

Nouns

  • paid-for content
  • paid-for subscription
  • paid-for service
  • paid-for app
  • paid-for newsletter

Etymology

English

Formed in modern English by combining the past participle paid with the preposition for and joining them with a hyphen so the pair can sit before a noun like a single adjective. The pattern grew with the rise of online media, where it marks paid services apart from free ones.