lucre

[loo-ker]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lucre ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

monetary reward or gain; money.

Origin of lucre

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin lucrum profit; akin to Old English lēan reward, German Lohn, Gothic, Old Norse laun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lucre

gravy, wealth, revenue, funds, capital, riches, cash, take, gain, income, gate, receipts, proceeds, resources, earnings

Examples from the Web for lucre

Contemporary Examples of lucre

America with lakes of lucre, waves of wampum, a Superstorm Sandy of simoleons, a Hurricane Katrina of cash.
The Federal Government Has Violated My Right to Chainsaw
P. J. O’Rourke
April 27, 2014
He should stop wasting his time taunting Rick Perry with penny-ante bets and put his lucre to good use.
Eight Ways Mitt Romney Could Beat Newt Gingrich
Michelle Cottle
December 16, 2011

Historical Examples of lucre

Other causes are added to lucre, or are the consequences of it.
The Sexual Question
August Forel
Here are our instruments of deception, our poisoned 75 sources of lucre.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
The professor does not practice this art for the lucre of gain, but he understands it in detail.
The Gypsies
Charles G. Leland
Spain would have the princess Lucre, in despite of Holland and all the Jews.
The Sleeping Bard
Ellis Wynne
It is a work of love, not of lucre; and, as such, is commended to the brotherhood.
Notes and Queries, No. 209, October 29 1853
Various

British Dictionary definitions for lucre

lucre

noun

usually facetious money or wealth (esp in the phrase filthy lucre)

Word Origin for lucre

C14: from Latin lūcrum gain; related to Old English lēan reward, German Lohn wages

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

Word Origin and History for lucre

late 14c., from Latin lucrum "gain, advantage, profit; wealth, riches," from PIE root *lau- "gain, profit" (cf. Greek apo-lanein "to enjoy," Gothic launs, German lohn "wages, reward," and possibly Sanskrit lotam, lotram "booty"). Filthy lucre (Tit. i:11) is Tyndale's rendering of Greek aischron kerdos.