gold digger

noun

variants or less commonly gold-digger

ˈgōl(d)-ˌdi-gər 

1

: one who digs for gold

2

: a person whose romantic pursuit of, relationship with, or marriage to a wealthy person is primarily or solely motivated by a desire for money

Whether you're dating a potential gold digger or are surrounded by friends who are constantly asking for handouts, you'll want to protect your money from those kinds of drains.

—Kimberly Palmer

For years, it has almost always played out like this: A woman accuses a famous man of harassment, and that famous man calls her a liar. The media reports it, expensive lawyers rush in to also call the woman a liar and maybe a gold digger and maybe worse …

—Nina Burleigh

To deflect the impression that he was a gold digger par excellence, Bingham renounced any claim on his new wife's fortune.

—Richard Kluger

gold-digging

ˈgōl(d)-ˌdi-giŋ 

adjective

a gold-digging opportunist

Examples of gold digger in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Her boyfriend, however, accused her of being a gold digger, despite his own refusal to contribute equally to household tasks. —Darlin Tillery, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 May 2025

Another element of the defense’s strategy is to taint Ventura and other accusers and witnesses as being essentially gold diggers or star f*ckers looking to get ahead. —Dominic Patten, Deadline, 20 May 2025

The gold digger is the tradwife as seen through a funhouse mirror: a woman living off her ability to attract a man, only here done crassly. —Constance Grady, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018

Then Mike kind of went further and further into her than being a true love story and took out a lot of the cynical stuff where Chelsea might be seen as a gold digger. —Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 4 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gold digger

• obligor
• outrigger
• bigger
• jigger
• rigger
• rigor
• trigger
• vigor
• gravedigger