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Glite Dictionary
for love or money

for love or money

6.6
You cannot do it even for a large reward
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : bajo ninguna circunstancia
  • I couldn't get her to wear a dress for love or money.

Examples

  • The two things he lusted for, Danny's girl and Danny's car, he couldn't get for love or money.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • I wouldn't sell my old guitar for love or money.

  • She refused to accept help for love or money, wanting to do it all on her own.

  • He wouldn't change his mind about the matter for love or money.

Synonyms

for all the world
vsfor love or money
1 7.9

Refuse to do something no matter what happens

highlights refusal despite any inducement or offered incentive

Antonyms

under no circumstances
  • Formal
20 4.2

Says that something must never happen in any situation

How Likely

certain
946 1.0
possible
∞ 1.0
unlikely
487 1.9
in a million years
  • Informal
38 4.3
for love or money
  • Informal
6.6
under no circumstances
  • Formal
20 4.2

Surface Forms

for love or money positive

Morphology

for + love + or + money

Although 'love' and 'money' are recognizable motives, their literal combination does not transparently yield the idiomatic sense 'under no circumstances' — the phrase functions as a negative intensifier meaning one would not do something regardless of incentive. This entrenched idiomatic usage is not reliably derivable from the parts, so learners who only know the constituent words are unlikely to infer the correct meaning.

Etymology

For love or money may come from a simple image: someone being offered either love or money to do something. Saying you would not do it 'for love or money' means even these two strong offers would not change your mind, so it means 'under any circumstances'.