golden handcuffs
plural noun
Did you know?
Chances are you've heard of a golden handshake, which is a particularly tempting severance agreement offered to an employee in an effort to induce the person to retire early. People started getting golden handshakes (by that name) around 1960; by 1976, English speakers had also coined the accompanying golden handcuffs to describe a situation in which someone is offered a special inducement to stay. The expression turns up often in quasi-literal uses, such as "slapped golden handcuffs on" or "a shiny new set of golden handcuffs."
Examples of golden handcuffs in a Sentence
Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2025
That steady paycheck creates golden handcuffs that get tighter with every promotion.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Those golden handcuffs may be finally coming loose.
—Brianna Crane, Axios, 23 Oct. 2024
Those golden handcuffs may start to fall off if rates drop closer to 5%, experts predict.
—Brianna Crane, Axios, 16 Oct. 2024
What's next: More golden handcuffs could start to loosen.
—Mike Deehan, Axios, 6 Aug. 2024
The Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development, or BUILD, Act, which passed in October 2018, offers countries financing alternatives to the golden handcuffs of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
—Elbridge Colby, Foreign Affairs, 10 Dec. 2019
The ‘golden handcuffs’ of low mortgage rates The main tool the Fed uses to manage the economy and implement monetary policy is setting its key interest rate, which influences borrowing costs.
—Bryan Mena, CNN, 19 Mar. 2024
Apart from price cuts, Zillow’s chief economist stressed that buyers are finding a bit of relief as home prices and mortgage rates ease—and inventory increases slightly with more homeowners giving up their golden handcuffs.
—Alena Botros, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Golden handcuffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golden%20handcuffs. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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