as in fortune
a very large amount of money
that enormous diamond ring must have cost a king's ransom
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Recent Examples of king's ransom
Obviously, the cost to acquire Banks would have paled in comparison to the king's ransom Indianapolis paid for Gardner.
—
Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025
The king's ransom paid Apple for Google search priority has been called into question due to the government's antitrust case against Alphabet .
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2025
Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2025
The king's ransom paid Apple for Google search priority has been called into question due to the government's antitrust case against Alphabet .
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 1 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for king's ransom
Noun
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Lunar New Year celebrations are in full swing as millions participate in festivities and honor traditions believed to bring good fortune.—
Alexandra Banner,
CNN Money,
17 Feb. 2026
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Their small, spare yet tasteful apartment (the work of the collective Studio Bent) turns into a marital pressure cooker as Theo’s fortunes rise and Sally’s self-belief craters.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Many restaurants and food brands are offering deals, including buy-one-get-one-free offers and special meal bundles.—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
13 Feb. 2026
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So, chocolate, orgasms, limerence, and heroin may all depend on the same little bundles of cells to evoke their fundamental sensation of pleasure.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Best of all, every breakfast, lunch, and dinner here is bookended with Moroccan tea, a ground green concoction infused with mint leaves and generously sized sugar cubes.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 Feb. 2026
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Structured wool and felt tunic dresses and quilted coat-like bubble skirts commanded attention in shades of earthy russet, maize yellow, lacquered crimson and dusty mint green.—
Anika Reed,
USA Today,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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What piles up now melts gradually through spring and summer, feeding rivers, farms, and household taps long after the clouds clear.—
James Ward,
USA Today,
18 Feb. 2026
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In sheer dollar terms, the pile of money owed by the government is projected under the CBO’s baseline scenario to balloon from nearly $31 trillion today to a staggering $56 trillion over the next decade.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Just hours after bombs began raining down on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, two FBI agents arrived unannounced at Nikki Nojima Louis’ home in Seattle’s Japantown.—
Zoe Sottile,
CNN Money,
16 Feb. 2026
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The contract covers both complete bombs in the All-Up-Round configuration and individual tail kits.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“King's ransom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/king%27s%20ransom. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
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