gold fever
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of gold fever
First recorded in 1840–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The pockmarked earth on Johannesburg's eastern fringe, until last week a humble cattle kraal ringed with barbed wire, now stands as the unlikely centre of South Africa's latest gold fever.
From Barron's • Feb. 16, 2026
But gold, and gold fever, have inevitably spurred conflict.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2022
“The guys who catch Bigfoot gold fever, they become lost to it,” Pyle says.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2021
He meant that once gold fever gets into your blood it doesn’t easily leave.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 4, 2019
The gold fever seized like a frenzy upon the avaricious, and the early colonisers turned their backs upon any country that lacked precious minerals.
From The Story of Seville by Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
