cash grab

noun

plural cash grabs

: the greedy pursuit of an opportunity for making money especially when done without regard for ethics, concerns, or consequences : money grab

Some Republican leaders have also said any attempt to undo the state's flat tax amounts to a cash grab.

—Steve LeBlanc

… money generated by single-use plastic going onto the market is being swallowed up in a cash grab … with little or no accountability or strategy underpinning it.

—Adam Leyland

also : something (such as a product or service) used for a cash grab

HBO announced a new Harry Potter TV series, and it is an obvious cash grab that is insulting to true fans.

—Victor Lana

But is it good enough to satisfy discerning taco-loving hipsters or is it simply a shameless, cultural appropriating cash grab?

—Joey Morona

It might be more feasible to just give up on college football being anything but a soulless cash grab …

—David Schraub

Examples of cash grab in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The law was reformed in 2024 through a legislative deal after a pressure campaign by business groups who said the law was being exploited for cash grabs by predatory attorneys. —Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026

While there’s no way of telling how a work stoppage might leave its mark on MLB’s upcoming media rights haggles, the league will have to hammer out new distribution deals in the wake of an unprecedented cash grab by the NFL. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 18 Mar. 2026

Popov’s directorial debut – see Deadline review — follows Baryshnikov as Margarita, an ambitious fashion designer living in a chaotic West Hollywood apartment with her Russian-Jewish family who and enters a reality TV competition show called Slay, Serve, Survive in a desperate cash grab. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 27 Feb. 2026

But their efforts are not enough to save this unnecessary sequel that smacks of a cash grab. —Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026

But Deputy House Speaker Steven Smith, who was a leading advocate for the bill, called them a cash grab that have not proven to make the roads any safer. —Neal Riley, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026

Cynical cash grabs will inevitably follow, but the industry also has a chance to take away some important lessons from the Heated Rivalry success. —Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026

This adaptation of the popular RPG could have been a cynical cash grab, but writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley chose the right approach by crafting a loving tribute to what makes the game so addictive without taking it too seriously. —Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Jan. 2026

The op-ed further frames Illinois’ cannabis policy as a cynical cash grab. —Chicago Tribune, 18 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cash grab

• ahab
• cantab
• hijab
• prefab
• ab
• cab
• crab
• dab
• drab
• fab
• gab
• jab