Synonyms

fortune hunter

American

noun

a person who hopes to prosper, especially through marriage to someone of wealth.

fortune-hunter British

noun

a person who seeks to secure a fortune, esp through marriage

"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 Word Forms

fortune-hunting adjective

Etymology

Origin of fortune hunter

First recorded in 1680–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Why had Quinzy gone to so much trouble to bring this fortune hunter and his ostrich to Ashton Place?

From Literature

Parties of adventurers, fortune hunters and magic-makers begin to form in order to make the trek into the heart of the dungeon.

From Salon

Red Hook promises an even deeper and darker dungeon — 500 feet under! — as well as new enemies and a new gang of desperate fortune hunters willing to risk their sanity.

From Seattle Times

She called the matter a “horrific and vulgar fraud” perpetrated by a fortune hunter.

From Washington Post

Fenn’s doggerel had seven times seven types of ambiguity, enough to keep an estimated 100,000 fortune hunters poring over it for a decade.

From Washington Post

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023