as in money
something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment
a politician who seems more interested in pelf than in policy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pelf
Thomasine and Bushrod join up (as sheriffs relate) and share their pelf with Mexicans, Native Americans, other Black people, and poor white people.
—
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 May 2022
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pelf
Noun
-
Participants don’t get their scholarship money until passing their first semester back with C’s or better.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 Apr. 2026
-
One of the alleged victims, 95-year-old Angela Liriano, said she was left without money for food after her benefits disappeared.—
Abby Dodge,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Dave Walton, a corn, soybean, and hay farmer in Iowa and vice president of the American Soybean Association, said in March that some of his neighbors didn’t have cash on hand last fall to buy fertilizer and were struggling to budget for fertilizer due to high prices.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Building the Xcel Center and investing in a professional hockey team brought in some cash to one corner of the city but did nothing to restore the lost social and human capitals.—
Stephen B. Young,
Twin Cities,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The unlawful taking of items from a machine or device that is operated or activated by the use of coins.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Now, bagel shops around the country are getting serious coin from investment funds.—
Sam Stone,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
17 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The drop in Hermes shares was even steeper, last seen down 12% as currency fluctuations weighed on the firm's sales figures.—
Joseph Wilkins,Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
15 Apr. 2026
-
In finance, the gold standard fixes a currency’s value against a specific quantity of a specific object.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
At the time of writing, its product page has two 4K sticks from Amazon itself available discounted down to prices below this one, and the powerful 4K Max is just five bucks more.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Turkeys will travel through pinch points in the terrain just like rutting bucks will.—
Alex Robinson,
Outdoor Life,
16 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pelf. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
