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
But Milwaukee is likely going to ask for a king's ransom, and the Warriors may not be willing to pay the price.
—
Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
Williams is such a talented prospect that experts are saying the Bears should not trade the first overall pick for a king's ransom.
—Jon Hoefling, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024
What king's ransom would the price of entry be if the trumpeters all make a ‘living wage’ for a temporary job best filled by college students?
—Luther Ray Abel, National Review, 17 Feb. 2023
But a king's ransom awaits you with A Royal Corgi Christmas (Hallmark, Nov. 25), where a prince who's about to assume the throne gifts his mother a rambunctious corgi named Mistletoe, who's in desperate need of a trainer.
—Dan Snierson, EW.com, 22 Nov. 2022
At the Chamounix Equestrian Center, children learn the aristocratic sport — but those in the Work to Ride program don't need a king's ransom.
—Anne-Marie Green, CBS News, 31 Aug. 2022
Yet Hilbert paid a king's ransom of over $7.6 billion for the struggling lender, more than seven times its book value.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2022
Hot Reads: Upon Further Review Barcelona has locked up its budding star Pedri with a deal that includes a $1.1 billion release clause, ensuring that any potential suitor would have to pay a king's ransom to pry away the 18-year-old midfielder.
—Justin Birnbaum, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2021
Research Affiliates ran numbers for Fortune showing how a few stocks with gigantic market caps—most of them boasting king's ransom valuations—have grabbed a bigger and bigger slice of the S&P 500.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 30 May 2020
Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
Williams is such a talented prospect that experts are saying the Bears should not trade the first overall pick for a king's ransom.
—Jon Hoefling, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024
What king's ransom would the price of entry be if the trumpeters all make a ‘living wage’ for a temporary job best filled by college students?
—Luther Ray Abel, National Review, 17 Feb. 2023
But a king's ransom awaits you with A Royal Corgi Christmas (Hallmark, Nov. 25), where a prince who's about to assume the throne gifts his mother a rambunctious corgi named Mistletoe, who's in desperate need of a trainer.
—Dan Snierson, EW.com, 22 Nov. 2022
At the Chamounix Equestrian Center, children learn the aristocratic sport — but those in the Work to Ride program don't need a king's ransom.
—Anne-Marie Green, CBS News, 31 Aug. 2022
Yet Hilbert paid a king's ransom of over $7.6 billion for the struggling lender, more than seven times its book value.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2022
Hot Reads: Upon Further Review Barcelona has locked up its budding star Pedri with a deal that includes a $1.1 billion release clause, ensuring that any potential suitor would have to pay a king's ransom to pry away the 18-year-old midfielder.
—Justin Birnbaum, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2021
Research Affiliates ran numbers for Fortune showing how a few stocks with gigantic market caps—most of them boasting king's ransom valuations—have grabbed a bigger and bigger slice of the S&P 500.
—Shawn Tully, Fortune, 30 May 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for king's ransom
Noun
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Ellison’s net worth accordingly rocketed by more than $40 billion to $258 billion from Wednesday to Friday, enjoying easily the largest daily bump of any billionaire on both Thursday and Friday when his fortune rose by about $25 billion and $16 billion, respectively, according to Forbes data.—
Derek Saul,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2025
-
Musk’s fortune was constructed in large part through federal contracts.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
13 June 2025
Noun
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Cord-cutting is showing little sign of letting up, as the legacy pay-TV bundle lost another 12% of its subscriber base in the first quarter, bringing overall penetration down to just 36% of all U.S. TV households.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
13 June 2025
-
First, the digital freebies include a Steam profile bundle, an exclusive startup movie, and a special virtual keyboard theme.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
11 June 2025
Noun
-
The Zen-Cha Spritz with tea, cava and mint tastes like it’s made to sip with an ocean breeze.—
Jenn Harris,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2025
-
The card — Clark’s 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Black Finite one-of-one rookie card with a mint 9 grade from PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) — became the most expensive public sale for a non-autographed Clark card, as well as the second-highest price for any Clark card of any kind.—
Larry Holder,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Noun
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Testing found that the limestone on which the foundation sat and the pile concrete were strong enough to support the building, and the basement slab showed no signs of cracking or sinking.—
Linda Robertson,
Miami Herald,
24 June 2025
-
First on the docket is a pile of cords knotted together, ensnaring an eyelash curler and a pen.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target and worked perfectly.—
Sonam Sheth
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 June 2025
-
The attack — which Trump later said was coordinated beforehand with Qatar to minimize casualties — came in response to unprecedented U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last week, which were carried out with the largest non-nuclear bombs on earth.—
Natasha Turak,
CNBC,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“King's ransom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/king%27s%20ransom. Accessed 28 Jun. 2025.
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