Synonyms

hard cash

American

noun

actual money as distinguished from checks or credit.

hard cash British

noun

money or payment in the form of coins or notes rather than cheques or credit

"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

hard cash Idioms

see cold cash.

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.

That this curiosity translates to cold, hard cash is fantastic news in the streaming era, when Netflix, Hulu and the like have all but annihilated the theatrical mid-budget film.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

Contemporaries were convinced that his motivation for publishing Mansfield’s ephemera wasn’t so much reverence for her talent as greed for hard cash.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

The impoverished North has moved to revive inbound tourism to earn much-needed hard cash in the face of sanctions over its nuclear programmes, developing lavish coast and mountain resorts.

From Barron's • Jan. 27, 2026

Cold hard cash, way beyond the initial price tag for raw materials to keep Scunthorpe going for a few more weeks.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2025

Pa had the misfortune to kill a Jersey cow and had to pay $60 in hard cash for the privilege.

From Letters of the Motor Girl by Gardner, Ethellyn

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