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rich
get-rich-quick
(used as a modifier before a noun) Of or characterized by generating a large sum of money quickly and (typically) without requiring much effort or energy. Jenny's always coming up with some get-rich-quick scheme to lift us out of this dinky little town. Always be wary of anyone who tries to sell you some get-rich-quick idea—usually the only person getting rich is the salesman.
rich seam
A multifaceted topic that provides a lot of interesting material for discussion or writing. Judy's childhood experiences were a rich seam for her as she wrote her first novel.
be (all) part of life's rich pageant
A phrase that encourages acceptance of the unenjoyable things that happen in life. Nobody likes dealing with car problems, but they're just part of life's rich pageant, unfortunately. The tantrums of toddlerhood are all part of life's rich pageant.
be (all) part of life's rich tapestry
A phrase that encourages acceptance of the unenjoyable things that happen in life. Nobody likes dealing with car problems, but they're just part of life's rich tapestry, unfortunately. The tantrums of toddlerhood are all part of life's rich tapestry.
filthy lucre
money. I sure could use a little of that filthy lucre. I don't want to touch any of your filthy lucre.
filthy rich
1. Fig. very wealthy. I wouldn't mind being filthy rich. There are too many filthy rich people now.
2. Fig. people who are very wealthy. The filthy rich can afford that kind of thing, but I can't. I sort of feel sorry for the filthy rich.
It is better to be born lucky than rich.
Prov. If you are born rich, you may lose your money, but if you are born lucky, you will always get what you need or want just by chance. Maybe your family doesn't have a lot of money, but you are lucky, you know. And it's better to be born lucky than rich.
one law for the rich and another for the poor
Prov. Rich people are sometimes able to escape without punishment when they commit crimes, while poor people are usually punished. It doesn't seem fair—rich people can avoid paying their taxes and not get in trouble, but poor people are always punished if they don't pay. We shouldn't have one law for the rich and another for the poor.
rich in something
having valuable resources, characteristics, traditions, or history. The entire region is rich in historical churches. Our soil is rich in important nutrients.
rich man's joke is always funny
Prov. Everyone wants to curry favor with rich people and so will always laugh at their jokes. (From a poem by Thomas Edward Brown.) We all thought that Mr. Lisle was a narrow-minded, unpleasant old man, but we were careful to act otherwise, because he was wealthy. A rich man's joke is always funny.
rich with something
having a lot of something; abundant in something. The beautiful book was rich with color illustrations. The old town was rich with elegant Victorian houses.
stinking rich
Fig. very rich. I'd like to be stinking rich for the rest of my life. Tiffany is stinking rich, and she acts like it.
strike it rich
to acquire wealth suddenly. If I could strike it rich, I wouldn't have to work anymore. Sally ordered a dozen oysters and found a huge pearl in one of them. She struck it rich!
too rich for someone's blood
1. too expensive for one's budget. This hotel is too rich for my blood. Europe is getting too rich for our blood.
2. too high in fat content for one's diet. This dessert is too rich for my blood. Most ice cream is too rich for my blood.
strike it rich
to become suddenly and unexpectedly rich or successful Many immigrants dream of striking it rich in America.
Etymology: based on literal meaning of strike it rich ( to find gold in the ground)
be (all) part of life's rich pageant/tapestry
(literary) if you say that a bad or difficult experience is all part of life's rich tapestry, you mean that you must accept it because it is a part of life that cannot be avoided
Usage notes: A tapestry is a piece of cloth with a picture in it that usually represents a story.
Having kids certainly causes problems, but that's all part of life's rich tapestry. a rich seam
(formal) a subject which provides a lot of opportunities for people to discuss, write about or make jokes about (often + of ) Both wars have provided a rich seam of drama for playwrights and novelists alike. His second novel mines the same rich seam of mother-son relations.
filthy/stinking rich
(informal) extremely rich Most of us are stinking rich compared to the average citizen in the Third World. Palm Beach has the highest concentration of filthy rich folk in the world.
That's (a bit) rich!
something that you say when someone criticizes you to show that you do not think they are being fair because they are as bad as you I'm greedy? That's a bit rich, coming from you!
See strike it richstrike it rich
to suddenly become rich He struck it rich in the oil business.
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.
rich as Croesus
Very wealthy, as in They're rich as Croesus, with their penthouse, yacht, and horses. This term alludes to Croesus, the legendary King of Lydia and supposedly the richest man on earth. The simile was first recorded in English in 1577.
strike it rich
Also, strike oil or strike it lucky. Experience sudden financial success, as in He never dreamed that he'd strike it rich this soon, or They really struck oil with that investment, or One of these days we'll strike it lucky. The first of these idioms originated in mining, where it referred to finding a rich mineral deposit. [Colloquial; second half of 1800s]
filthy lucre
(...ˈlukɚ) n. money. I sure could use a little of that filthy lucre.
filthy rich
1. mod. very wealthy. I wouldn’t mind being filthy rich.
2. n. people who are very wealthy. The filthy rich can afford that kind of thing, but I can’t.
stinking rich
mod. very rich. I’d like to be stinking rich for the rest of my life.
strike it rich
tv. to become rich suddenly. Pete is the kind of guy who wants to strike it rich and live in the lap of luxury for the rest of his life.
too rich for someone’s blood
1. mod. too expensive for one’s budget. Europe is getting too rich for our blood.
2. mod. too high in fat content for one’s diet. Most ice cream is too rich for my blood.
strike it rich
Informal To have sudden financial success.
poor little rich girl
Unhappy heiress. In contrast to Job's turkey, the subject of this phrase wants for nothing—except emotional support. The original “poor little rich girl” was socialite Barbara Hutton, heiress to the Woolworth (“Five and Dime” stores) and E. F. Hutton investment banking fortunes. She had a lonely childhood, seven failed— and in many cases, exploitive—marriages, and died a broken (and nearly broke) woman at age sixty-six. The phrase has been applied to other women whose lives were sad in spite (or perhaps because of inherited wealth).
rich beyond the dream of avarice
Wealthy beyond imagination. “Avarice” means “greedy,” so to be rich beyond the dream of avarice is to have more money than even a Scrooge McDuck or Charles Montgomery Burns nocturnal fantasy. The phrase can be traced back to two 18th-century writers, the redoubtable Samuel Johnson and the lesser-known Edward Moore.