old money
1
6.9
- noun
- /oʊld ˈmʌni/
:
familias de dinero antiguo
- Families of old money cheered alongside immigrant families with no money at all.
- old-money families
- comes from old money
It's this very kind of classy, old money sort of world that he's from.
- It's this very kind of classy, old money sort of world that he's from.
- So I, the other weekend I met with a daughter of one of the richest billionaires in the US, old, old money in the energy space.
Examples
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She came from old money in the Shenandoah Valley, which was why I assumed she was able to afford living here.
Fiction book (1990) -
It's this very kind of classy, old money sort of world that he's from.
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What about the old money families - you say run the island?
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Of course, Mr. Harris, being of old money, knows his way around a table.
Fiction book (1990) -
No wonder the traditional middle classes and some old money elites are concerned.
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He comes from old money.
Fiction book (1997) -
Edina, for many years, the term used was 'old money.'
Blog text (4) -
A bunch of old-money families that made their fortune off of sugar cane back in the day.
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But the Young family, they're old-money rich.
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Families of old money often enjoy long-standing social status and uphold traditional values.
Synonyms
People from families who have been rich for many generations
How Refined
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'old' and 'money' can plausibly infer a sense of long-established or longstanding wealth from the literal combination, so part of the meaning is derivable. However, the phrase specifically evokes inherited family wealth and social-class connotations (‘‘people/families’’ and status) that are culturally loaded and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Old money comes from the picture of families who keep their old money for many years and pass it down. That's why it means 'people or families whose wealth has been inherited and who have had high social status for many years'.