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
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
In the business world, golden handcuffs are financial incentives that are designed to keep key employees or executive managers sticking around.
—The Motley Fool, Dallas News, 17 Sep. 2023
For an influencer like Musk, attention functions as golden handcuffs.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 5 Sep. 2023
Simply put: The 2% and 3% mortgage rates—which were a policy outcome of the COVID-19 recession—are acting as golden handcuffs.
—Lance Lambert, Fortune, 24 June 2023
Some workers may now, post-layoff and with their golden handcuffs snipped, take the chance to find jobs more aligned with their values.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2023
There has been intense competition for talent with inflated salaries and golden handcuffs locking in talented workers.
—Fortune, 5 Oct. 2022
Some of us restrain ourselves with another type of golden handcuffs: low mortgage rates.
—cleveland, 4 June 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'golden handcuffs.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near golden handcuffs
Cite this Entry
“Golden handcuffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golden%20handcuffs. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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