smart money

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smart money ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

money invested or wagered by experienced investors or bettors.

such knowledgeable investors or bettors.

Law. punitive or exemplary damages.

Origin of smart money

First recorded in 1685–95

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

Related Words for smart money

purchase, financing, transaction, finance, grant, money, loan, stake, property, expenditure, asset, venture, contribution, expense, plunge, advance, hunch, bail, inside, backing

Examples from the Web for smart money

Contemporary Examples of smart money

She was also the next in line, the establishment candidate, the smart-money pick.
John Avlon: Mitt Romney’s Campaign Is Becoming a Sinking Ship
John Avlon
December 1, 2011
In this market, almost every other smart-money investment in a financial institution is far under water.
Meet The One Guy Who's Making Money Right Now
William D. Cohan
October 29, 2008

Historical Examples of smart money

The certificate from a captain and surgeon, by which only the smart-money is obtainable.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
My father paid the smart-money, my mother cried, and I was lugged home.
Mated from the Morgue
John Augustus O'Shea
He had an idea that if he managed to pay the smart-money before Jacob was sworn in, the lad might escape with little difficulty.
The Life of Thomas Wanless, Peasant
Alexander Johnstone Wilson
Smart, smrt, n. quick, stinging pain of body or mind: smart-money: a dandy.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for smart money

smart money

noun

money bet or invested by experienced gamblers or investors, esp with inside information
the gamblers or investors themselves

money paid in order to extricate oneself from an unpleasant situation or agreement, esp from military service

money paid by an employer to someone injured while working for him

US law damages awarded to a plaintiff where the wrong was aggravated by fraud, malice, etc

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 smart money

"money bet by those in the know," 1926, from smart (adj.). The same phrase earlier meant "money paid to sailors, soldiers, workers, etc., who have been disabled while on the job" (1690s), from a noun derivative of smart (v.). Also "money paid to obtain the discharge of a recruit" (1760), hence "money paid to escape some unpleasant situation" (1818). Sometimes in legal use, "damages in excess of injury done."