filthy lucre
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filthy lucre
Money, in the sense of being a product or source of greed. The phrase is Biblical in origin, and the word "lucre" comes from the Latin word lucrum, meaning "profit." She's always worked to better her community, without caring a bit about the filthy lucre she could make in a different field. Of course that man stole from his clients—he's always been driven by a passion for filthy lucre. If you make filthy lucre the focus of your life, you might get rich, but you probably won't find happiness.
See also: filthy
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
filthy lucre
money. I sure could use a little of that filthy lucre. I don't want to touch any of your filthy lucre.
See also: filthy
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
filthy lucre
Money; originally, money obtained dishonestly. For example, She didn't like the job but loved the filthy lucre in the form of her weekly paycheck. This term comes from the Bible (Titus 1:11), where it refers to those who teach wrongly for the sake of money. In time it came to be used loosely, and usually jokingly, for money in general, and in the mid-1900s gave rise to the jocular slang term the filthy for "money." Although both versions may be dying out, the expression filthy rich, for "extremely wealthy," survives.
See also: filthy
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
filthy lucre
(...ˈlukɚ) n. money. I sure could use a little of that filthy lucre.
See also: filthy
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
filthy lucre
Money acquired by dishonorable means. The term comes from St. Paul’s Epistle to Titus (1:11), in which he criticizes those who teach things which they ought not “for filthy lucre’s sake.” Later the term came to be used ironically for money in general, even if it had been honestly earned. Perhaps scruples have changed, for the term is heard less often today.
See also: filthy
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer