wampum

noun

ˈwäm-pəm How to pronounce wampum (audio)
Definition of wampumnext
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 made some real wampum on that last business deal

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 wampum Today, Mohegan Tribal Elder, Beth Regan presented Alissa Pili gifts from the Mohegan Tribe including a wampum necklace to honor her journey into the @WNBA as and Indigenous woman. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 20 May 2024 Entering the New-York Historical Society from Central Park West, all visitors come upon a section of wampum belt and the kind of statement that in the last several years has become standard fare at cultural institutions. — Marc Tracy, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024 Similar stories played out with other forms of money, such as wampum beads. — Dave Birnbaum, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Some of their gear—a pair of shoes, a VHF radio, a wampum sash worth several thousand dollars—now resides on the canal’s bottom. — Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 3 July 2023 See All Example Sentences for wampum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wampum
  1. money
  2. cash
  3. coin
  4. currency
  5. bucks
  6. gold
Noun
  • Commissioners say that the ruling will actually save consumers money in the long run, and that the more efficient tires are better for the environment.
    — Tom Wait, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • If the patient is dosed less than what’s on the label, drugmakers generally get less money.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of money
Noun
  • Tipsters may be eligible for a cash reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment.
    — CBS News Atlanta Digital Team, CBS News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • About one in three home sales in the Bay Area were all cash from April through June, Redfin found.
    — Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of cash
Noun
  • Apple AirTags are a favorite among flight attendants and frequent fliers because the coin-sized trackers can be slipped into luggage without sacrificing packing space.
    — Alesandra Dubin, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The much harder question is what happens to coins whose owners fail to migrate them in time.
    — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of coin
Noun
  • Alpha Binwani Capital's founder Ashwin Binwani said institutional investors remained positioned in carry trades against a basket of G10 currencies, led by the Australian dollar.
    — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The suspect in a 2022 homicide believed there was a large amount of currency hidden in a chicken stand on Foothill Boulevard, but killed a man only to make off with a paltry $110, according to police.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of currency
Noun
  • Most sportsmen wonder how any whitetail bucks, let alone a brute such as Kontras’, could have been so easily patterned.
    — Jeff Murray, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Pole dancers bookend him and are showered with Usher bucks, his prop cash.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of bucks
Noun
  • By comparison, according to the study, the burial robes of King Sigismund III Vasa and Queen Constance of Habsburg, interred around the same time in Kraków in southern Poland, contain not a single pure gold thread.
    — Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Out beyond the shore, the sky had turned a wash of pink and gold—a celestial curtainfall soundtracked by the thwack of a snare drum, and the mellifluous burble of yet another pint being poured.
    — Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of gold

Browse Nearby Words

waltz (up)
wampum
wan
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Cite this Entry

“Wampum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wampum. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on wampum

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about wampum

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