greenback

American  

[green-bak] / ˈgrinˌbæk /

noun

1. a U.S. legal-tender note, printed in green on the back since the Civil War, originally issued against the credit of the country and not against gold or silver on deposit.

---

greenback British  

/ ˈɡriːnˌbæk /

noun

1. informal an inconvertible legal-tender US currency note originally issued during the Civil War in 1862

2. slang a dollar bill

---

Etymology

Origin of greenback

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; green + back ¹

Example Sentences

The greenback is tracking a quarterly gain not seen since late 2024.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

Dollar Index —which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of currencies—climbed 0.5%.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

But economists often compare the size of economies using present-day dollars because the greenback is the currency of international trade and a measure of actual buying power globally.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

The rupee has hit new lows against the dollar, as a flight-to-safety buoys the greenback and rattles emerging-market currencies.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

Even better, every other person “dropped some greenback love,” as Cool Papa would say, down into Wah-Wah Nita’s open guitar case.

From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Related Words

• currency