smart money
3
6.8
- noun
- /smɑrt ˈmʌni/
- Jargon
:
dinero inteligente
- Who will start that game is still a matter of some conjecture, but, the smart money is on the crafty veteran, Eddie Harris, or the young fireballer "Wild Thing" Ricky Vaughn.
- smart money says
Examples
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Investors are watching closely, as the smart money seems to be shifting towards tech start-ups.
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Snyder and the House of Representatives are up again in 2 years, and smart money says that these guys learned a couple of things from this election:
Blog text (3) -
Let's see, smart money is on you to win, though.
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All the smart money's bet on the rec yard.
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That said, Electoral College math still appears to strongly favor the incumbent, and the smart money over at the Iowa Electronic Market still registers a 63% probability.
Blog text (3) -
Unfortunately, the smart money's on more women coming forward and making Chad—who, up to a few weeks ago, reveled in his lovable NFL goofball status.
Blog text (3) -
According to industry experts, the smart money is on investing in renewable energy stocks right now.
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In the world of sports betting, the smart money often favors the team with the best statistics.
Synonyms
1
4.9
A person who knows a lot about money and tells people how to manage it
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'punitive damages' is a specialized, legal sense that cannot be derived from 'smart' (clever) + 'money' (currency); a B1 learner who knows the parts would not predict punishment-awarding damages. The phrase is idiomatic/specialized (and even other common senses like ‘money bet by informed investors’ are metaphorical), so its meaning is not transparently compositional.
Etymology
Smart money may come from old betting rooms. People who knew a lot put their money on the likely winner, and those bets and the people who made them were called the 'smart money', so the phrase now means 'people considered experts'.