Phrase guide

dirty money

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Money that is illegally gained, illegally transferred or illegally utilized, especially money gained through forgery, bribery, prostitution, money laundering, or theft.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

Topics: business, law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ill-gotten gains

Antonyms: clean money

2

noun

Meaning 2

Extra money paid to workers as compensation for dirty or dangerous work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

goods or money obtained illegally

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: loot, booty, pillage, plunder, prize, swag

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: stolen property

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: swart geld — money illegally gained
  • Azerbaijani: haram pul — money illegally gained
  • Belarusian: бру́дныя гро́шы (brúdnyja hróšy) — money illegally gained
  • Bulgarian: мръ́сни пари́ (mrǎ́sni parí) — money illegally gained
  • Catalan: diner negre — money illegally gained
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑錢 /黑钱 (hēiqián) — money illegally gained
  • Czech: špinavé peníze — money illegally gained
  • Danish: sorte penge — money illegally gained
  • Dutch: zwart geld — money illegally gained
  • Finnish: likainen raha — money illegally gained
  • French: argent sale — money illegally gained
  • Galician: diñeiro negro — money illegally gained
  • German: Schwarzgeld — money illegally gained
  • German: schmutziges Geld — money illegally gained
  • Japanese: 悪銭 (akusen) — money illegally gained
  • Japanese: 汚れたお金 (kegareta okane) — money illegally gained
  • Japanese: 悪金 (warugane) — money illegally gained
  • Korean: 부정한 돈 (bujeonghan don) — money illegally gained
  • Korean: 더러운 돈 (deoreoun don) — money illegally gained
  • Korean: 악전 (akjeon) — money illegally gained
  • Polish: brudne pieniądze — money illegally gained
  • Portuguese: dinheiro preto — money illegally gained
  • Portuguese: dinheiro sujo — money illegally gained
  • Romanian: bani murdari — money illegally gained
  • Romanian: bani negri — money illegally gained
  • Russian: гря́зные де́ньги (grjáznyje dénʹgi) — money illegally gained
  • Slovak: špinavé peniaze — money illegally gained
  • Spanish: dinero negro — money illegally gained
  • Spanish: dinero B — money illegally gained
  • Spanish: dinero en B — money illegally gained
  • Spanish: dinero sucio — money illegally gained
  • Turkish: kara para — money illegally gained
  • Turkish: anafor — money illegally gained
  • Ukrainian: брудні́ гро́ші (brudní hróši) — money illegally gained