mad money

American  

noun

Informal.

1. a small sum of money carried or kept in reserve for minor expenses, emergencies, or impulse purchases.

2. a small sum of money carried by a woman on a date to enable her to reach home alone in case she and her escort quarrel and separate.

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Etymology

Origin of mad money

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

The two most striking things about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised state budget proposal are the immense size and mad money.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2022

“No, I can do both. I can work at the store and be an architect. I’d make mad money that way,” he said.

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2020

Lucky for them, they have a little mad money.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 20, 2019

She was talking about the “supersized, contorted, totally out of context” towers, resulting from a cocktail of new technology and mad money, competing for height and attention, from which this city had once proudly abstained.

From New York Times • Jan. 9, 2013

She hid this from everyone, but now that the court needs to review all of her financial documents, she has to admit that she's got, as Quang-ha says, "crazy mad money."

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan