mad money
noun
1
: discretionary money set aside for an emergency or for personal use
Mad money is a bit of cash set aside for some personal fun …—
Jerry Tarde
Jerry TardeI tell everyone I am semi-retired. The theory is to be able to find a few small side jobs to just make a little "mad money" using the skills acquired through a decades-long career.—Michael Baldauf
Michael BaldaufSearch the apartment or house carefully. Some people conceal cash or jewelry in their homes. If there is a library, look through the books. They are a favorite repository for mad money …—David Bernheim
David BernheimThe Pine Wood Elementary P.T.A. in the county gives each teacher $100 for classroom "mad money."—Michael Winerip
Michael Winerip2
old-fashioned
: money that a woman carries to pay her fare home in case a date ends badly (as in a quarrel)
I was born too late for mad money. By the time I was old enough to date, the idea that a woman would leave her house with just enough cash to get herself home was so anachronistic, it verged on ludicrous.—Rebecca Johnson
Rebecca JohnsonExamples of mad money in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The wrong reasons: Paying for a vacation or want some mad money, for example.
—Jeff Lazerson, Oc Register, 5 June 2025
Against the backdrop of the mad money, the veteran quarterback looks like a major bargain for the Las Vegas Raiders.
—Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2023
That was before Monday, when Voyager Digital, the crypto brokerage that Cuban partnered with last fall, filed Chapter 11, apparently costing some Mavs fans their mad money in the process.
—Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 11 July 2022
The untitled project follows a Swiss art dealer and Russian oligarch caught in a web of secrets, lies and mad money, telling the inside story of an international, billion-dollar game where power is the ultimate currency.
—Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 1 Apr. 2022
Ever-rising stock prices, fed by the Federal Reserve Board’s hedge-fund bailout and mad money printing approach to monetary policy, meant the only sucker’s game was not buying stocks.
—Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
Others are hobbyists, trading a chunk of their retirement portfolios or some mad money.
—Emily Flitter, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020
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Jeff Lazerson, Oc Register, 5 June 2025
Against the backdrop of the mad money, the veteran quarterback looks like a major bargain for the Las Vegas Raiders.
—Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2023
That was before Monday, when Voyager Digital, the crypto brokerage that Cuban partnered with last fall, filed Chapter 11, apparently costing some Mavs fans their mad money in the process.
—Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 11 July 2022
The untitled project follows a Swiss art dealer and Russian oligarch caught in a web of secrets, lies and mad money, telling the inside story of an international, billion-dollar game where power is the ultimate currency.
—Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 1 Apr. 2022
Ever-rising stock prices, fed by the Federal Reserve Board’s hedge-fund bailout and mad money printing approach to monetary policy, meant the only sucker’s game was not buying stocks.
—Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2022
Others are hobbyists, trading a chunk of their retirement portfolios or some mad money.
—Emily Flitter, New York Times, 20 Feb. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Mad money.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mad%20money. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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