filthy lucre

English

WOTD – 11 December 2023

Etymology

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”):^[1][2] see the quotations and Citations:filthy lucre.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌfɪlθi ˈl(j)uːkə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌfɪlθi ˈlukəɹ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːkə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: filthy lu‧cre

Noun

filthy lucre (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic, derogatory, often humorous in modern use) Money, especially if obtained dishonestly.

   (money obtained dishonestly): Synonyms: dirty money, 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:

     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.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 3:2–3:

     A Biſhop then muſt be blameleſſe, […] Not giuen to wine, no ſtriker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not couetous; […]

   • 1855 January 5, Anthony Trollope, “Iphigenia”, in The Warden, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 175:

     Both her auditors, brother and sister, assented to this, and declared on their own knowledge that no man lived less addicted to filthy lucre than the warden.

   • 1900, “The Seventh Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Nice, a.d. 787. [The Canons of the Holy and Ecumenical Seventh Council. Canon XIX.]”, in Henry R[obert] Percival (volume), Philip Schaff, Henry Wace (series), editors, The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church. […] (A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series; XIV), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons; Oxford, Oxfordshire; London: Parker & Company, →OCLC, page 567:

     The abomination of filthy lucre has made such inroads among the rulers of the churches, that certain of those who call themselves religious men and women, forgetting the commandments of the Lord have been altogether led astray, and for the sake of money have received those presenting themselves for the sacerdotal order and the monastic life.

   • 2022 November 2, Daniela Elser, “King Charles could strip Harry of Duke title after his memoir, Spare, is released”, in Shayne Currie, editor, The New Zealand Herald‎, Auckland: New Zealand Media and Entertainment, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-15:

     The reason why, like pretty much everything these days connected with the current Duke [Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex] and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, comes down to their various money-making gambits. (With a reported $68,000-a-month mortgage to pay and a hen house full of chooks to keep in gluten-free grain, these days the couple need filthy lucre the exact same way that you and I do.)

Derived terms

• filthy rich

Translations

money, especially if obtained dishonestly — see lucre

See also

• ill-gotten gains
• mammon, Mammon
• thirty pieces of silver
• Thesaurus:money

References

1. Compare “filthy lucre, n.” under “filthy, adj., n., and adv.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022.
2. “filthy lucre, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Stuart Berg Flexner, editor in chief, Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Random House, 1993, →ISBN.

Further reading

• Filthy Lucre (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia