lucre

/ˈlukər/

Other forms: lucres

Lucre is another word for money, or profit. It's most often used to describe money gotten illegally or immorally.

Well-heeled bankers and lawyers make profits; drug dealers and bank robbers get filthy, rotten lucre. You might think of lucre as the term that gets at the dark side of capitalism. Some people will do anything in the pursuit of lucre. Political groups that call Hollywood immoral still accept the lucre that it offers. We all love money, except when it causes us to do terrible things to ourselves and others. Then it's lucre.

Definitions of lucre

1. noun

   informal terms for money
   synonyms: boodle, bread, cabbage, clams, dinero, dough, gelt, kale, lettuce, lolly, loot, mazuma, moolah, pelf, scratch, shekels, simoleons, sugar, wampum

   type of:

   money

   the most common medium of exchange; functions as legal tender
2. noun

   the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)
   synonyms: earnings, net, net income, net profit, profit, profits

   types:

   earning per share

   the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock

   windfall profit

   profit that occurs unexpectedly as a consequence of some event not controlled by those who profit from it

   cleanup, killing

   a very large profit

   fast buck, quick buck

   quick or easy earnings, "they are traders out to make a fast buck"

   filthy lucre

   shameful profit

   gross profit, gross profit margin, margin

   (finance) the net sales minus the cost of goods and services sold

   markup

   the amount added to the cost to determine the asking price

   accumulation

   (finance) profits that are not paid out as dividends but are added to the capital base of the corporation

   dividend

   that part of the earnings of a corporation that is distributed to its shareholders; usually paid quarterly

   fund, stock, store

   a supply of something available for future use

   backlog, reserve, stockpile

   something kept back or saved for future use or a special purpose

   stock dividend

   a dividend paid in stock rather than in cash

   extra dividend

   a dividend paid in addition to the regular dividend

   equalizing dividend

   a dividend paid to compensate shareholders for losses resulting from a change in the dividend schedule

   divvy

   short for dividend; especially one paid by a cooperative society

   type of:

   income

   the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time