ill-gotten gains
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The days when dictators could live in gilded exile with fortunes in secret Swiss bank accounts are mostly over, primarily because of global mechanisms for adjudicating human-rights abuses and tracking ill-gotten gains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025
The money involved in the frauds was believed to be far less than the true amount of Annie's ill-gotten gains over the years.
From BBC • May 22, 2025
As quickly as possible, the crew wrapped up their ill-gotten gains and made for the exit as the four guardians wailed pleas and threats and curses behind them.
From Slate • Dec. 15, 2024
“Google’s quality reflects the ill-gotten gains of an advantage illegally acquired,” the government said in a court filing.
From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2024
Didn’t scoundrels usually have ill-gotten gains lying around somewhere?
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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.
