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Wordbay · Money

Words about money

Rich, poor, careful, careless: English has a word for every attitude to money, and a few technical ones worth knowing before you read the financial pages.

Everyday (21)

  • acumen noun. Skill at judging situations quickly and making good decisions, especially in business.
  • affluent adjective. Having plenty of money and a comfortable way of life.
  • collateral noun. Property promised to a lender as security, which is lost if the loan isn’t repaid.
  • dividend noun. A share of a company’s profits paid out to its shareholders.
  • embezzle verb. To steal money you have been trusted to look after, such as an employer’s.
  • fiscal adjective. Relating to government money, especially taxes and public spending.
  • frugal adjective. Careful and sparing with money or food; simple and inexpensive.
  • gainful adjective. Of work or activity: paying a wage or bringing in money.
  • gentrification noun. The change of a poorer area as wealthier people move in, raising prices and often pushing out long-time residents.
  • haggle verb. To argue over a price, each side trying to get a better deal.
  • insolvent adjective. Unable to pay one’s debts when they are due.
  • liability noun. Legal responsibility for something, especially for paying a debt or damages.
  • lucrative adjective. Producing a lot of money; very profitable.
  • nest egg noun. A sum of money saved up and kept for the future.
  • overheads noun. The regular costs of running a business, such as rent and power, apart from making its goods.
  • remuneration noun. Money paid for work or a service.
  • splurge verb. To spend a lot of money freely, especially on a treat.
  • squander verb. To waste money, time or a chance recklessly or foolishly.
  • stipend noun. A fixed regular payment, often to a student, trainee or member of the clergy.
  • wherewithal noun. The money or means needed to do something.
  • windfall noun. An unexpected sum of money or stroke of good luck.

Well-read (24)

  • arrears noun. Money that is owed and should already have been paid.
  • cheese-paring adjective. Mean with money to the point of pettiness.
  • defray verb. To provide money to pay a cost or expense.
  • fungible adjective. Interchangeable with any other item of the same kind, as one pound coin is with another.
  • honorarium noun. A payment for a service, such as a talk, where custom forbids a set fee.
  • impecunious adjective. Having little or no money.
  • indemnity noun. A promise to cover someone’s losses or damages, or the money paid to do so.
  • indigent adjective. Poor and lacking the basic necessities of life.
  • largesse noun. Generous giving of money or gifts, especially by the rich or powerful.
  • lucre noun. Money, especially when seen as tainted or shamefully gained.
  • moneyed adjective. Having a lot of money; wealthy.
  • munificent adjective. More generous than is usual or expected.
  • oligarchy noun. Rule by a small group of powerful people, or a country governed that way.
  • parsimonious adjective. Extremely unwilling to spend money or use resources.
  • parsimony noun. In reasoning, a preference for the simplest explanation that fits the facts.
  • penury noun. Extreme poverty.
  • perquisite noun. A benefit that comes with a job on top of the salary; a perk.
  • pittance noun. A very small or inadequate amount of money.
  • plutocracy noun. Government by the rich, or a society in which wealth buys power.
  • probate noun. The official process of proving a will valid so that the estate can be shared out.
  • profligate adjective. Recklessly wasteful with money or resources.
  • sinecure noun. A paid position that needs little or no work.
  • spendthrift noun. A person who spends money recklessly and wastefully.
  • usury noun. The lending of money at unreasonably high rates of interest.

Advanced (17)

  • bezzle noun. The hidden total of undiscovered embezzlement at any moment, which makes people feel richer than they are.
  • boondoggle noun. Pointless, wasteful work or spending, usually paid for by others or the public.
  • champerty noun. An outsider paying for someone’s lawsuit in return for a share of anything won.
  • chrematistic adjective. Relating to the pursuit of wealth, or to making money for its own sake.
  • depreciate verb. To lose value over time.
  • eleemosynary adjective. Relating to or supported by charity.
  • emolument noun. A salary, fee or profit that comes from a job or office.
  • kleptocracy noun. Government by leaders who use their power to steal the country's wealth for themselves.
  • malversation noun. Corrupt conduct in a position of trust, especially the misuse of public money.
  • nabob noun. A very rich and powerful person, especially one who made a fortune abroad.
  • peculation noun. The embezzling of public money or property by someone trusted with it.
  • pecuniary adjective. Relating to or consisting of money.
  • pelf noun. Money or wealth, especially when gained dishonestly.
  • spondulicks noun. Money or cash (a jokey, old-fashioned word).
  • sumptuary adjective. Relating to laws that limit private spending on luxuries such as food or clothes.
  • tontine noun. A scheme in which investors share a fund’s income, the last survivor taking everything.
  • usufruct noun. The right to use another’s property and enjoy its income without owning or harming it.