life of Riley

American  

noun

Informal.

1. a carefree, comfortable, and thoroughly enjoyable way of living.

   Since winning the lottery, he's led the life of Riley.

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life of Riley Cultural  

1. A life of luxury: “Sheila found herself living the life of Riley after she won the lottery.” The expression comes from a popular song of the 1880s, “Is That Mr. Reilly?”, in which the title character describes what he would do if he suddenly became wealthy.

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life of Riley Idioms  

1. Also, life of Reilly. An easy life, as in Peter had enough money to take off the rest of the year and live the life of Riley. This phrase originated in a popular song of the 1880s, “Is That Mr. Reilly?” by Pat Rooney, which described what its hero would do if he suddenly came into a fortune.

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Etymology

Origin of life of Riley

First recorded in 1920–25; perhaps after the Reilly mentioned in various songs popular around 1900, as “The Best of the House Is None Too Good for Reilly”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

life of Riley

"The directors and ex-directors are living the life of Riley from what I can see, with their helicopters, their horses and their properties. It is very sad that this could have been allowed to happen."

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2019

The fiddle player’s fingers live the life of Riley.

From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2018

Overall, however, Alex hardly has the life of Riley.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2017

In the meantime, the life of Riley is a simple one.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2017

Usually it was the life of Riley, but somehow it wasn't enough in this place.

From To Remember Charlie By by Roger D. Aycock

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