fortune hunter

See synonyms for fortune hunter on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who hopes to prosper, especially through marriage to someone of wealth.

Origin of fortune hunter

1
First recorded in 1680–90

Other words from fortune hunter

  • fortune-hunting, adjective, noun

Words Nearby fortune hunter

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fortune hunter in a sentence

  • Oh, I am not the first fortune hunter who has found a skull or serpent where he had hoped to find gold!

  • In that case, sir, you must not be surprised to find yourself regarded by the young lady's father as a fortune hunter.

    You Never Can Tell | George Bernard Shaw
  • She was poor; she had nothing then to tempt a fortune hunter, and thank Heaven I can say I was never that.

    The Imaginary Marriage | Henry St. John Cooper
  • He set Forbes down as a fortune-hunter willing to marry a much older woman of moderate means.

    What Will People Say? | Rupert Hughes
  • It is so easy to love Lucy, for Lucy's sake, that even a fortune-hunter would be in danger of being caught in his own trap.

    Afloat And Ashore | James Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for fortune-hunter

fortune-hunter

noun
  1. a person who seeks to secure a fortune, esp through marriage

Derived forms of fortune-hunter

  • fortune-hunting, adjective, noun

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