easy money

American  

noun

1. money obtained with a minimum of effort.

2. money obtained by deception, fraud, artifice, etc.

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easy money British  

noun

1. money made with little effort, sometimes dishonestly

2. commerce money that can be borrowed at a low interest rate

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easy money Idioms  

1. Money obtained readily, with little effort and, often, illegally. For example, Winning the lottery—that's easy money! or I was wary of making easy money with the insider tips I'd been given. [c. 1900] Also see fast buck.

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Etymology

Origin of easy money

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

easy money

But can I take advantage this apparent arbitrage opportunity to make some easy money by borrowing from a bank at 0% and then lending to Uncle Sam at 4.7% a year?

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Burnham said: "The days of making easy money out of waste are over. We're giving authorities the powers to hunt down the people responsible. We will seize their assets and shut their operations down."

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

But by the time price confirms a structural trend, the easy money has usually been made.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

The post-financial-crisis era of easy money has led to repeated booms and busts in small, and sometimes not-so-small, parts of the market in the past 15 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

He was unable to compete with the other bigger shopkeepers whom the easy money to be had from the tanners had drawn to the new town.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya