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

Example Sentences

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

From Washington Post • Aug. 5, 2021

If the one is vilified for its worship of filthy lucre, the other is tarred by its worship of frivolous lamé.

From New York Times • May 27, 2021

If you had talent, the worst thing you could do for your soul was allow some corporate entity to claim and corrupt it in exchange for filthy lucre.

From Salon • Jul. 19, 2018

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

Then she tried a child’s story, which she could easily have disposed of if she had not been mercenary enough to demand filthy lucre for it.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott