INDEX:
1. having a lot of money or possessions
2. extremely rich
3. having a lot of money now, but not always rich
4. a rich person
5. to become rich
6. ways of telling someone that you are not rich
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ POOR
to earn a lot of money : ↑ EARN
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1. having a lot of money or possessions
▷ rich /rɪtʃ/ [adjective]
▪ Her new boyfriend is very good-looking and very rich.
▪ You have to be rich to afford anything in this shop.
▪ The rich countries of the world have promised more aid for developing countries.
▪ Every year ‘Fortune’ magazine publishes a list of the 100 richest people in America.
▷ wealthy /ˈwelθi/ [adjective]
rich, especially through owning land, property, or valuable possessions over a long period of time :
▪ She comes from a wealthy family, who own houses in London and Paris.
▪ The new taxes were aimed at the largest and wealthiest corporations.
▪ You would never have guessed from meeting him how immensely wealthy he was.
wealth [uncountable noun]
▪ The discovery of oil brought great wealth to the area made the people there very wealthy .
▪ a country where there are extremes of wealth and poverty
▷ well off /ˌwel ˈɒf◂/ [adjective]
having more money than most people, so that you have a comfortable and easy life :
▪ They were sufficiently well off to buy their own apartment.
relatively/reasonably well off
▪ a relatively well off family
better off
▪ The government claim that people are better off now than they have ever been.
▷ well-to-do /ˌwel tə ˈduː◂/ [adjective]
rich and respected because you have a fairly high position in society :
well-to-do family/background
▪ He wants to find a husband from a well-to-do background for his daughter.
▪ Surprisingly, police statistics show that many of these thefts were carried out by people from well-to-do families.
well-to-do area/neighbourhood
▪ Educational facilities are best in the more well-to-do residential areas.
▷ affluent /ˈæfluənt/ [adjective]
having a lot of money, especially as a result of your own hard work - use this when talking about people in a particular country or group in society :
▪ As people become more affluent, so their standard and style of living improves.
affluent suburb
▪ We drove through affluent suburbs with large houses and tree-lined streets.
affluent society
▪ Consumer goods are a symbol of prestige in an affluent society.
affluence [uncountable noun]
▪ Since the Second World War there has been an increasing level of affluence in the West.
▷ prosperous /ˈprɒsp ə rəsǁˈprɑː-/ [adjective]
having a lot of money and a high standard of living, especially as a result of being successful in business :
▪ a prosperous American businessman
▪ After the war, Germany became one of Europe’s most prosperous countries.
prosperity /prɒˈsperɪti, prɒˈsperətiǁprɑː-/ [uncountable noun]
▪ The town’s prosperity comes from the textile industry.
▷ be comfortably off /biː ˌkʌmftəbli ˈɒfǁ-ˌkʌmfərt-/ [verb phrase]
to have enough money to live comfortably without worrying about money :
▪ When the children were small we never had much money, but now we seem to be comfortably off.
▷ comfortable /ˈkʌmftəb ə l, ˈkʌmfət-ǁˈkʌmfərt-, ˈkʌmft-/ [adjective]
having enough money to live comfortably without worrying about money - use this about people or their financial situation :
▪ My wife and I are very lucky, really, we’re comfortable, even though we’re both retired.
have a comfortable life
▪ They’ve had a much more comfortable life since she started her new job.
in comfortable circumstances
▪ He had supposed Mrs Mack to have been in comfortable circumstances, so he was surprised when he saw her tiny apartment.
2. extremely rich
▷ be loaded/be rolling in it /biː ˈləʊdə̇d, biː ˈrəʊlɪŋ ɪn ɪt/ [verb phrase] informal
to be extremely rich :
▪ Did you know Peter has three houses? He must be loaded.
▪ Some of her friends are absolutely rolling in it.
▷ stinking/filthy rich /ˌstɪŋkɪŋ, ˌfɪlθi ˈrɪtʃ/ [adjective phrase] spoken informal
extremely rich - use this especially when you think this is unfair :
▪ Gregory is filthy rich but he never gives a penny to charity.
▪ This gorgeous woman walked in, beautifully dressed and obviously stinking rich.
▷ be worth a fortune/be worth millions /biː ˌwɜːʳθ ə ˈfɔːʳtʃ ə n, biː ˌwɜːʳθ ˈmɪljənz/ [verb phrase]
to be extremely rich, especially because you have earned a lot of money in business, or through sport, entertainment etc :
▪ Michael Jackson must be worth a fortune.
▪ The Chief Executive started her career as a secretary, and now she’s worth millions.
▷ have money to burn /hæv ˌmʌni tə ˈbɜːʳn/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
to have so much money that you can buy anything you want, even things that you do not need :
▪ Every time I see her she’s wearing something new. She must have money to burn.
▪ Unless you’ve got money to burn, these expensive guitars are not the instruments to get you started.
3. having a lot of money now, but not always rich
▷ flush /flʌʃ/ [adjective not before noun] informal :
▪ I’ll buy the drinks, I’m feeling flush just now.
▪ Alan gives his wife fifty dollars a week, or a little more if he’s flush
▷ be in the money /biː ɪn ðə ˈmʌni/ [verb phrase] informal
to have a lot of money now because you have received some money unexpectedly, for example by winning a prize :
▪ He used to be always wanting a loan, and then all at once, he was in the money.
4. a rich person
▷ man/woman/person of means /ˌmæn, ˌwʊmən, ˌpɜːʳs ə n əv ˈmiːnz/ [noun phrase]
a person who is very rich, usually because they own land, property etc or because they have a family that has always been rich :
▪ Taylor is a man of means. His family owns several apartment blocks in New York.
▪ These were people of means who could afford to pay expensive legal fees.
▷ millionaire /ˌmɪljəˈneəʳ/ [countable noun]
a person who has a million pounds or dollars, or more :
▪ The money to keep the hospital open was provided by a London millionaire.
▪ I can’t afford a new car just now. I’m no millionaire, you know.
▷ multi-millionaire /ˌmʌlti mɪljəˈneəʳ/ [countable noun]
a person who has many millions of pounds or dollars :
▪ Louis Berg is a multi-millionaire who made his money in the newspaper business.
▷ magnate /ˈmægneɪt, -nə̇t/ [countable noun]
a rich and powerful person in a particular industry :
▪ Foundations set up by magnates such as Carnegie and Rockefeller provided most of the funding for the arts in the US.
steel/oil/shipping etc magnate
▪ She married a Texan oil magnate.
▪ the property magnate who owns the Empire State Building
▷ fat cat /ˌfæt ˈkæt/ [countable noun]
someone who makes a lot of money from a particular industry or business - use this about people who you think do not deserve to earn so much because they do not run their industry well, do not provide a good service etc :
▪ They do not resent the city fat cats, but believe top businessmen deserve success.
▪ Why should those fat cats get rich through our efforts?
▷ moneybags /ˈmʌnibægz/ [singular noun] informal
use this when you are saying in a humorous way that someone has a lot of money :
▪ Nowadays, if you’re not a moneybags, some places don’t want to have anything to do with you.
▷ the rich /ðə ˈrɪtʃ/ [plural noun]
all the people who are rich in a particular country, society etc - use this especially when you are comparing them with people who are poor :
▪ Under this government the rich seem to have got richer and the poor poorer.
▪ Democracy gave the poor, as well as the rich, a part to play in governing the city.
the rich and famous
▪ a tour around the Hollywood homes of the rich and famous
▷ the wealthy /ðə ˈwelθi/ [plural noun]
people who are rich, especially through owning land, property, or valuable possessions over a long period of time, who have a lot of power or influence in society :
▪ Private health care should not be only for the wealthy.
▪ The hotel stood by a lake, where the wealthy went to go fishing or pigeon shooting.
▷ the haves and the have nots /ðə ˌhævz ən ðə ˌhæv ˈnɒts/ [noun phrase]
rich people and poor people - use this expression when you are comparing both groups :
▪ The widening gap between the haves and the have nots is becoming very noticeable in New York.
5. to become rich
▷ get rich /ˌget ˈrɪtʃ/ [verb phrase]
▪ I’m trying to think of a way to get rich.
get rich (by) doing something
▪ Mr Askin got rich selling second hand cars.
get rich quick
▪ The company promised its sales team that, if they worked hard enough, they would get rich quick.
▷ make a fortune/bundle also make a bomb British /ˌmeɪk ə ˈfɔːʳtʃ ə n, ˈbʌndl, ˌmeɪk ə ˈbɒmǁ-ˈbɑːm/ [verb phrase] informal
to become very rich by earning or winning a lot of money :
▪ If you’re a good salesman you can make a bomb, but you have to work hard.
▪ You shouldn’t have sold your shares. You could have made a bundle.
make a fortune etc (by) doing something
▪ Richard made a fortune breeding racehorses.
▷ make good /ˌmeɪk ˈgʊd/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
to become rich, especially when you are from a poor family - used especially in newspapers :
▪ He’s just a poor country boy who made good in the city.
▪ Ian thinks that just because he made good, everybody else can too.
▷ marry into money /ˈmæri ɪntə ˌmʌni/ [verb phrase]
to become rich by marrying a rich person :
▪ If you don’t have any yourself, it’s a pretty smart move to marry into money!
▷ go from rags to riches /gəʊ frəm ˌrægz tə ˈrɪtʃə̇z/ [verb phrase not in progressive]
to become very rich after being extremely poor :
▪ Although he came from a poor family, he managed to go from rags to riches.
rags-to-riches [adjective phrase]
▪ a classic rags-to-riches story
▷ be made/set up for life /biː ˌmeɪd, set ˌʌp fəʳ ˈlaɪf/ [verb phrase]
if you say that someone is made for life or is set up for life, you mean they are extremely successful and so rich that they do not need to work any more :
▪ Now he’s got a contract to advertise sports clothing he’ll be made for life.
▪ Sylvester Stallone need never make another movie. He’s already set up for life.
6. ways of telling someone that you are not rich
▷ I’m not made of money /aɪm ˌnɒt ˈmeɪd əv ˌmʌni/
say this when someone wants you to spend more money than you think you can afford :
▪ ‘Why don’t you move to a bigger house?’ ‘I’m not made of money, you know!’
▷ money doesn’t grow on trees /ˌmʌni dʌz ə nt ˌgrəʊ ɒn ˈtriːz/
say this when someone, such as your child, husband, or wife, is spending more of your money than you think you can afford :
▪ Look how much you’ve spent on clothes this month! Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know!