Word.ws English Dictionary

filthy lucre

Syllables: filthy lu·creUK/ˌfɪlθi ˈl(j)uːkə//ˌfɪlθi ˈlukəɹ/

filthy lucre noun: money, especially if obtained dishonestly.

Noun

filthy lucre (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory, humorous, idiomatic, often) Money, especially if obtained dishonestly.
    • For there are many diſobedient and talkers off vanitie⸝ and diſceavers off myndes⸝ namly they off the circumciſion⸝ whoſe mouthes muſt be ſtopped⸝ which pervert whole houſes⸝ teachynge thyngꝭ [thynges] which they ought nott⸝ becauſe off filthy lucre.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Pistle of Paul unto Titus j:[10–11], folio cclxxxiij, verso
    • A Biſhop then muſt be blameleſſe, […] Not giuen to wine, no ſtriker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not couetous; […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 3:2–3
    Synonyms:
    dirty money, lucre

Synonyms of filthy lucre

Origin of filthy lucre

From filthy + lucre, which appears in the Tyndale Bible, and four times in the King James Version of the Bible, as a calque of Ancient Greek αἰσχρόν κέρδος (aiskhrón kérdos) and related terms such as αἰσχροκερδής (aiskhrokerdḗs, “[a person] given to filthy lucre”): see the quotations and Citations:filthy lucre.

Words that rhyme with filthy lucre

Questions about filthy lucre

What does filthy lucre mean?
Filthy lucre means money, especially if obtained dishonestly.
What part of speech is filthy lucre?
Filthy lucre is a noun.
How do you pronounce filthy lucre?
Filthy lucre is pronounced /ˌfɪlθi ˈl(j)uːkə/ (UK).

Words near filthy lucre in the dictionary

  1. filthmongers
  2. filths
  3. filthy
  4. filthy casual
  5. filthy dirty
  6. filthy lucre
  7. filthy rich
  8. filthying
  9. Filton
  10. filtra
  11. filtrabilities

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: filthy lucre (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-filthy lucre.oga.

Cite this entry: “filthy lucre.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/filthy_lucre. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.