fat cat
a wealthy person from whom large political campaign contributions are expected.
any wealthy person, especially one who has become rich quickly through questionable dealings.
an important, influential, or famous person.
a person who has become lazy or self-satisfied as the result of privilege or advantage.
Origin of fat cat
1Words Nearby fat cat
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fat cat in a sentence
It was the wanton disdain for democracy, the venality and corruption, the aggressive pursuit of regulatory rollbacks, which did nothing for the economy, enriched a few fat cat friends and industries and degraded the quality of life for everyone else.
What My Mobster Grandfather Understood About American Capitalism | Russell Shorto | March 17, 2021 | TimeIt was a Southern-Midwestern radical-agrarian party that opposed fat-cat financial interests.
Florida shopping-center magnate Mel Sembler is proud to personify the sort of Republican fat cat that Mitt Romney is depending on.
Highlighting “big business” success resonates with the corporate fat-cat caricature.
“Big Business is Doing Fine”: Romney’s Tellingly Accurate Gaffe | Alex Klein | August 24, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThey also nearly always cite a December 2009 interview in which the president called out "fat cat" bankers.
Meanwhile, the fat-cat donors are credited with more “Calculated Giving.”
A fat cat, looking as if it were dead, lay relaxed on the grass beneath this board.
None Other Gods | Robert Hugh Benson
British Dictionary definitions for fat cat
slang
a very wealthy or influential person
(as modifier): a fat-cat industrialist
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with fat cat
A wealthy and privileged person, as in This neighborhood, with its million-dollar estates, is full of fat cats. This term originally meant “a rich contributor to a political campaign,” and while this usage persists, it now is often applied more broadly, as in the example. [Colloquial; 1920s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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