vigorish
Americannoun
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a charge paid on a bet, as to a bookie.
-
interest paid to a moneylender, especially a usurer.
Etymology
Origin of vigorish
1910–15, earlier viggresh, perhaps < an adaptation in Yiddish slang of Ukrainian výgrash or Russian výigrysh winnings, profit
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This built-in profit is the vig, or vigorish.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
The stake of a free bet isn’t paid out with any winnings, meaning a successful $200 free bet at even odds returns roughly $190, accounting for the sportsbook’s built-in advantage, or vigorish.
From Washington Post • Dec. 26, 2022
Businesses might decide to absorb some wage increases and other costs, such as fuel, without passing them all on to consumers and tacking on additional vigorish.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2022
That period was the state government’s 2019 fiscal year, during which its vigorish in the form of gambling tax revenue was a record $1.39 billion.
From Washington Times • Aug. 7, 2019
Action is about at its peak then, and if the cross-roader had been tipping dice again, as they suspected, they would have had time to notice which table wasn't making its vigorish.
From Vigorish by Berryman, John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
