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big money

big money

84 2.0
A large amount of money, especially as earnings or profit
  • noun
translation icon : mucho dinero
  • What is needed is to get the big money out of the political system.
  • make big money

And that's why, you know, people pay big money to sponsor on podcasts.

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Examples

  • Oh, I would pay big money to see that woman climb a mountain.

  • The last of the big money had changed hands once before.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • I know it sounds weird, but people pay big money for them.

  • You would have made big money.

  • All the big money is there.

  • The big money will come.

  • My first gift to her when I began making big money was when she came to the States.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The teacher can ask them to provide examples of people who they think make big money because of luck.

    Academic text (2004)
  • I never tell people to go into freelance writing as a way to make big money.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Many investors are looking for opportunities where they can earn big money quickly.

Synonyms

a lot of money
vsbig money
604 1.0

A large amount of money that lets you buy expensive things or do big projects

is narrower, often about earnings or profit rather than any large amount
a ton of money
vsbig money
  • Informal
68 2.8

A very large amount of money

is similar but usually refers to earnings or profit rather than any amount
big bucks
vsbig money
  • Informal
61 4.2

A lot of money that someone earns or gets

is the general label used especially for earnings or profit
bundle
vsbig money
  • Informal
37 4.4

A large amount of money

is broader and used for large amounts notably for earnings or profit
pile
vsbig money
  • Slang
32 7.1

A large amount of money

is similar but is often used for earnings or profit specifically
small fortune
vsbig money
17 3.3

A large amount of money that is more than you expect

is used for large amounts especially as income or profit not necessarily unexpected
loads of money
vsbig money
  • Informal
5 3.0

A lot of money

is the same idea but often used for earnings or profit
megabuck
vsbig money
  • Slang
2 6.1

A very large amount of money often about one million dollars

is broader applying to large earnings or profit rather than a fixed amount
megabucks
vsbig money
  • Slang
1 7.4

A very large amount of money

is a common phrase for very large amounts especially earnings or profit

Antonyms

550 2.0

A situation of having very little money and few things

How Much

fortune
453 2.8
big money
84 2.0
sum
141 1.0
small change
10 2.3

Surface Forms

big money singular
big moneys plural

Morphology

big + money

The meaning 'a large amount of money' is directly derived from combining the adjective 'big' (large/significant) with the noun 'money'; this is a literal adjective+noun composition with no idiomatic shift. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and therefore a B1 learner who knows both words can reliably infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Big money comes from the simple picture of very large bags or piles of cash; when money is called big it means the amount is large or important, so 'big money' means 'a large amount of money'.