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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

The gap is the difference between the 86.6% of better-off students who got A to C grades this year, compared to 71% of those in the most deprived areas.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 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

It’s not to drag the relatively better-off down to the bottom, but to allow more people to pull themselves up.

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2025

In 1793 over 50 percent of Philadelphia’s blacks were live-in domestic workers, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundering, and child caring for better-off whites.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

She’s always been generous — maybe too generous — considerably better off than I am, and she regularly takes me out to expensive restaurants.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

Tarlov has been an accepted part of the Fox News family, recently signing a three-year contract despite Trump’s suggestion that “The Five” would be better off without her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

He added the government would be "a partner for growth to make every part of Britain better off".

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

Haynie said that in retrospect, the school might have been better off not constructing so much simultaneously.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Pierson decides he’s better off on his own.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow