old money en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
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(derogatory, idiomatic, often, uncountable) Families that have been wealthy for generations or members of such families.
They found, for example, a significant difference in emphasis as you moved from the “old money” rich, or true elite, to the “new money” rich, or unseasoned elite. The women of “old money” families tend to be relatively indifferent to swings in fashion; and their taste is oriented more to that of the British upper classes than to the French.
1959, Vance Packard, The Status Seekers, Pocket Books, published 1971, →ISBN, page 118:That girl's a student athlete but she's never played a sport Her parents had a seven-figure wedding and divorce She's stolen from the CVS but her daddy's on the board It's gotta be 'cause she's an old money bitch
2023, underscores, “Old money bitch”, in Wallsocket:
- (Ireland, UK, uncountable) The monetary system used in the United Kingdom and Ireland before decimalisation in 1971 and consisting of pounds, shillings, pence and farthings.
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(Ireland, UK, humorous, uncountable) The imperial system of measurement or Fahrenheit, as opposed to the metric system or Celsius.
These scales say I weigh 72 kilograms; what's that in old money?
Antonyms
new money · nouveau riche · new money (antonym(s) of “imperial system”)
Hypernyms
Synonyms
Translations (9)
ka მემკვიდრეობითი სიმდიდრე (families that have been wealthy for generations) · de Geldadel (families that have been wealthy for generations) · fi vanha raha (families that have been wealthy for generations) · sq paratë e vjetra (families that have been wealthy for generations) · ja 世襲 (families that have been wealthy for generations) · cmn 豪門 /豪门 (families that have been wealthy for generations) · fr vieux riche (families that have been wealthy for generations) · fr vieille fortune (families that have been wealthy for generations) · ka გვარიშვილობითი სიმდიდრე (families that have been wealthy for generations)