filthy lucre

American  

noun

1. money.

   to lose one's health for the sake of filthy lucre.

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filthy lucre Idioms  

1. Money; originally, money obtained dishonestly. For example, She didn't like the job but loved the filthy lucre in the form of her weekly paycheck. This term comes from the Bible (Titus 1:11), where it refers to those who teach wrongly for the sake of money. In time it came to be used loosely, and usually jokingly, for money in general, and in the mid-1900s gave rise to the jocular slang term the filthy for “money.” Although both versions may be dying out, the expression filthy rich, for “extremely wealthy,” survives.

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Etymology

Origin of filthy lucre

First recorded in 1520–30

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

filthy lucre

But much of the filthy lucre given by foreign powers came in the currency of affirmed vanity.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 5, 2021

Can't wait to get their hands on filthy lucre?

From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2019

There are still a few idealists out there cherishing the belief that writing, as art, mustn’t be contaminated by filthy lucre.

From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2017

And, commendably, he is a man who plays for history more than filthy lucre.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2013

Of course for some Everesters myriad other, less virtuous, motives came into play, as well: minor celebrity, career advancement, ego massage, ordinary bragging rights, filthy lucre.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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