To save this word, you'll need to log in.
Definition of dark money
US politics
: money contributed to nonprofit organizations (especially those classified as social welfare organizations and business leagues) that is used to fund political campaigns without disclosure of the donors' identities
When it comes to the corrosive influence of money in politics, the 2012 campaign has presented a trifecta of troubling developments. They are, in ascending order of worry: the complete collapse of the presidential public financing system set up in the wake of Watergate; the explosion of the super PAC political committees, which are allowed to take unlimited checks to finance independent expenditures for or against particular candidates; and the proliferation of “dark money,” or spending by nonprofit organizations and trade groups that, unlike super PACs, are excused from having to reveal their donors. — Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2012
Keep scrolling for more
Test Your Vocabulary
Intact Latin Quiz

- What did focus mean in Latin?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
Intact Latin Quiz What did each of these words mean to ancient Romans?
Take the quiz
The Eponym Quiz Do you know these words that come from names?
Take the quiz
Spell It Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz
Dictionary Devil The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?
Play the game
















Share dark money
Time Traveler for dark money
The first known use of dark money was in 2010
See more words from the same year