dirty money

Noun

dirty money (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Money that is illegally gained, illegally transferred or illegally utilized, especially money gained through forgery, bribery, prostitution, money laundering, or theft.
   • Corruption is a force multiplier for the West's enemies, and yet the West continues to accept dirty money into its economies by the billion.2018, Oliver Bullough, chapter 1, in Moneyland, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 15
   • Taken together, the articles exposed a dark truth: “Dirty money” — terrorist financing, drug cartel funds, fortunes embezzled from developing nations, the profits from organized crime — flows so freely through the world’s most powerful financial institutions that it has become inextricable from the...2021 June 10, Mark Schoofs, “She Exposed the Truth About ‘Dirty Money’: It’s Everywhere”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms:

   ill-gotten gains

   Antonyms:

   clean money

2. (informal) Extra money paid to workers as compensation for dirty or dangerous work.
   • The days should be long gone when workers are paid dirty money to do a risky job […]1997, Janus, page 24
   • […] much of the set was smeared with oil and grease. This did, however, lead to a very unpleasant working environment. 'Everyone working on the film was paid “dirty” money,' recalls Maurice. 'I got seven and six a week “dirty money”, which was wonderful for a fifteen-year-old.'2015, Robert Sellers, The Secret Life of Ealing Studios