smart money
- money invested or wagered by experienced investors or bettors.
- such knowledgeable investors or bettors.
- Law. punitive or exemplary damages.
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Origin of smart money
First recorded in 1685–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for smart money
Contemporary Examples
She was also the next in line, the establishment candidate, the smart-money pick.
In this market, almost every other smart-money investment in a financial institution is far under water.
Historical Examples
The certificate from a captain and surgeon, by which only the smart-money is obtainable.
The Sailor's Word-BookWilliam Henry Smyth
My father paid the smart-money, my mother cried, and I was lugged home.
Mated from the MorgueJohn 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, PeasantAlexander Johnstone Wilson
Smart, smrt, n. quick, stinging pain of body or mind: smart-money: a dandy.
smart money
- 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
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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
n.
"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."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper