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Glite Dictionary
to make out like a bandit

to make out like a bandit

2 8.4
Get a lot of money or things by luck
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : sacar una buena tajada
  • By investing in that startup early, she really made out like a bandit.

All in all, I made out like a bandit, so thanks for having me.

Examples

  • (Sara) You know, Bick, if I'm reading this correctly, when the book goes into second printing, if it does, you could make out like a bandit.

    Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006)

  • Jerry's probably making out like a bandit at the blackjack table.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • So I made out like a bandit just off of this.

  • All in all, I made out like a bandit, so thanks for having me.

    GQ

  • I plan on making out like a bandit!

    Blog text (9)

  • RGIII made out like a bandit with this one.

    Blog text (2)

  • He made out like a bandit, leaving you and the rest of us holding the bill.

    Blog text (24)

  • Churchill Schwartz is making out like a bandit right now with government funding.

    Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

  • And most of the time, when all that's really at issue is the value of the claim, the insurer makes out like a bandit.

    Blog text (5)

  • After selling his old car for a great price, he felt he made out like a bandit.

Synonyms

to make a fortune
vsto make out like a bandit
54 3.2

To earn a lot of money, often in a short time

earns significant profit unexpectedly rather than simply by fast accumulation
to cash in on
vsto make out like a bandit
30 4.4

Get money or other benefits from a situation, often unfairly

earns profit from an unexpected advantage rather than merely by opportunistic use
to make a killing
vsto make out like a bandit
  • Informal
21 4.9

To earn a lot of money very quickly and easily

earns profit unexpectedly or from an advantage rather than only quick easy gains

Antonyms

to lose
∞ 1.1

Fail to understand or follow what someone says

How Profitable

to get rich quick
  • Informal
3 6.2
to make out like a bandit
  • Informal
2 8.4
gain
  • Specialized
559 2.3
to do well
520 1.2
to break even
27 3.3
to lose
∞ 1.1

Surface Forms

make out like a bandit infinitive
made out like a bandit past
made out like a bandit past participle
making out like a bandit present participle
makes out like a bandit third person singular

Morphology

make + out + like + a + bandit

There is a visible link between 'make' (to gain/receive) and 'bandit' (someone who takes loot), so a learner might guess a sense of coming away with gains; however the simile 'like a bandit' and the phrasal item 'make out' combine idiomatically so the precise sense of profiting substantially (often unexpectedly) is metaphorical and not fully predictable. Because part of the meaning can be inferred from the constituents but the overall usage is idiomatic, this is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

The idiom make out like a bandit likely comes from the image of a thief walking away with lots of loot. To make out means to come away with something, and a bandit gets a big haul, so the phrase now means 'to gain or profit a lot'.