life of Riley
- idiom
- Informal
:
vida de lujo
- I'm living the life of Riley.
- Living the life of Riley
Examples
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After years of hard work, he finally retired and is now enjoying the life of Riley by traveling and relaxing.
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She quit her stressful job and decided to embrace the life of Riley at the beach, free from worries.
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You mortarmen sure live the life of Riley here.
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I was going to live the life of Riley Boxing you know and it didn't happen.
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Or I could move to Costa Rica, Get myself a beautiful senorita, Live the life of Riley down there.
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Many people dream of living the life of Riley, filled with fun adventures and financial security.
Synonyms
90
3.2
A life with comfort, happiness, and enough money to enjoy it
An easy and comfortable life without many problems
A comfortable life with good luck and little effort
Antonyms
How Comfortable
Surface Forms
Morphology
life + of + Riley
The sense 'a very easy, comfortable life' cannot be derived from the constituents: 'life' is general, 'of' is a function word, and 'Riley' is a personal name that gives no semantic cue. This is a culture-specific idiom whose meaning is historically conventionalized, so a B1 learner who knows the words would not predict the idiomatic meaning.
Etymology
Life of Riley may come from an old song and later a radio show about a man named Riley who had money, good food, and lots of free time. That clear image is why people use Life of Riley to mean 'a very easy, comfortable life'.