gold digger
noun
a person who seeks or digs for gold in a gold field.
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gold digger
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gold-digger
gold-diggernouna person who prospects or digs for gold
gold digger
Americannoun
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gold diggers
plural
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a person who seeks or digs for gold in a gold field.
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Informal. a woman who associates with or marries a man chiefly for material gain.
gold-digger
British
noun
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a person who prospects or digs for gold
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informal a woman who uses her sexual attractions to accumulate gifts and wealth or advance her social position
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gold digger
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30
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.
See Examples For:
Julia, a successful businesswoman in textile design, knows that her father will be alarmed at this impetuous engagement and will want to make sure that Johnny isn’t a gold digger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Despite the duplex, Ferrari, Bentleys and various expensive baubles he has showered upon her, she seems too delusional and naive to be called a gold digger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
Necheles continually accused Daniels of being a liar and a gold digger.
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2024
There are so many reasons why we need to retire the word gold digger, as well as the belief system behind it.
From Salon ● May 23, 2023
I look around the room for Darius, to see if there’s any hint that he might’ve heard what Layla just said about Janae being a gold digger.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
I didn’t call her a gold-digger, but I do think what he has and chooses to give to his children should be none of her business.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 13, 2026
"You think - is this is how people are perceiving us? When they say nasty things about him or call me a gold-digger, it irritates me."
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
And he even characterized Heard as a "gold-digger," a "narcissist" and a sociopath.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2022
Patrizia comes across like a bit of gold-digger.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2021
All I could do was to keep body and soul together, till at last I had to come to the conclusion that I was not cut out for a gold-digger.
From The Gilpins and their Fortunes A Story of Early Days in Australia by Archibald Webb
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
