easy money

noun

1. money obtained with a minimum of effort.

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

easy money

noun

1. money made with little effort, sometimes dishonestly

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of easy money¹

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

His uncles had regaled him with tales of the easy money available for legal seasonal workers — known as braceros — which allowed them to buy land and livestock back home.

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His rejection of the easy money was an unusual choice, particularly for a cash-strapped father of two.

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The minister had said there was no such thing as "beggars" in Cuba and people going through rubbish were, in essence, doing so out of choice to make "easy money", as she put it.

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MacManus met her husband of 51 years, Carlos MacManus, soon after he migrated to the U.S. from Mexico in the 1970s with aspirations to make easy money.

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Performers told the BBC that studios often try to attract people with the promise of making easy money in a country where a third of the population lives in poverty.

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