made of money
2
6.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
forrado
- Besides, you won your Nobel Prize for something you wrote in your Ph.D. dissertation—which no one else has ever done. De Broglie: "Does that mean that I'm made of money?" Newton: "Yes."
Examples
-
"Hey, the guy's made of money," he said.
Fiction book (2001) -
Are you made of money, Barney?
Fiction book (1994) -
Steven ain't made of money.
Fiction book (1996) -
Talk to Robert Kirkman—the guy must be made of money by this point.
Blog text (18) -
I wish I could buy that car, but I'm not made of money.
-
Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'm made of money.
-
He always expects me to pay; I'm not made of money!
Synonyms
8
5.6
Being rich and able to buy what you want
7
5.7
Having a lot of money
5
6.1
Having a lot of money
Having a lot of money and showing it with expensive clothes or cars
Antonyms
How Wealthy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The construction uses the transparent composition pattern 'made of X' so a learner who knows 'made', 'of' and 'money' can plausibly infer an extended meaning of having money (i.e., being wealthy). However, the idiomatic/pragmatic use—especially in negatives like 'isn't made of money' meaning 'doesn't have unlimited funds'—is a metaphorical extension rather than a literal composition, so the meaning is only partly predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Made of money creates a funny picture of a person actually made of coins and bills. One popular story says that image showed someone with endless cash, so today we use it to mean 'very wealthy' or to refuse requests by saying 'I can't pay for everything'.