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
Or the time when she filed a trademark application for the term "gold digger".
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 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
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
Nothing she has done so far suggests she is a gold-digger.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 13, 2026
Some labelled her a "gold-digger," claiming she married him for wealth or a secure government job with perks.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
And he even characterized Heard as a "gold-digger," a "narcissist" and a sociopath.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2022
There is a way to be fair to Watson, to scrutinize the story as it develops but reserve final judgment for later, without shrinking the alleged victims down to gold-digger status.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2021
The gold-digger beckoned with his hat as he called out.
From The Sheriff's Son by William MacLeod Raine
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.
