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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

In some ways, the constituency is divided between the better-off neighbourhoods of Ashton, Orrell, and Winstanley in the west, and the more deprived areas of Platt Bridge, Abram and Hindley in the east.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

These retailers are aggressively courting better-off customers at the same time that their traditional customers are cutting back due to inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 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

The government said offering an alternative would "break down barriers to opportunity", because white working class pupils were twice as likely to need to resit than their better-off classmates.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2025

Now I understand that these people I admired weren’t exactly rich, simply better-off than the people of my village, one of the poorest in Ecuador.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

"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

But in hindsight, I was optimizing for a travel lifestyle that I wasn’t really living, and I would have been better off picking a card that offered more of what I needed: free cash.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

“It’s a brutal business — you are better off putting your money into treasury bills, historically, so it’s hard for studios.”

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

We need to respect the fact that it is possible to know without knowing why we know and accept that—sometimes—we’re better off that way.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell