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• better-off
  better-off

  adjective

  being in better circumstances, especially economically.
• better off
  better off

  In a more favorable position or financial circumstances. For example, They were better off flying than driving there, or They were better off than most of their neighbors. This phrase is the comparative form of well off. [Mid-1800s]

better-off

American  

[bet-er-awf, -of] / ˈbɛt ərˈɔf, -ˈɒf /

adjective

1. being in better circumstances, especially economically.

   Only the better-off nations can afford to send probes into space.

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better off Idioms  

1. In a more favorable position or financial circumstances. For example, They were better off flying than driving there, or They were better off than most of their neighbors. This phrase is the comparative form of well off. [Mid-1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of better-off

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

better-off better off

Disadvantaged pupils were, on average, 19 months behind their classmates from better-off backgrounds by the time they got to Key Stage 4, the report said.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Yes, good public schools exist, but they tend to be in communities where only the better-off can afford to live.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026

Bankers interpret this as a sign that slightly better-off consumers are absorbing the higher prices, while lower-income customers are increasingly cutting back or seeking cheaper alternatives.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 8, 2026

It’s not to drag the relatively better-off down to the bottom, but to allow more people to pull themselves up.

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2025

South Shore hadn’t yet tilted the way other neighborhoods had—with the better-off people long departed for the suburbs, the neighborhood businesses closing one by one, the blight setting in—but the tilt was clearly beginning.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

"It's not that these people are worse off than those that came before them, but it's that they're no better off and that progress has stalled."

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Fat tissue is often viewed as something the body would be better off without.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

If your parents lived into their 90s, you may be better off waiting.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

But for public confidence, “we would be better off with an enforcement mechanism,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

“He would have been better off staying gone,” the old man said, pointing to the car with his chin.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall