Old Money

Old Money

"Old Money" is a term that refers to the established upper class. It is typically used to describe families who have been wealthy for several generations, as distinguished from the "nouveau riche" and "parvenus".

According to surveys conducted by W. Lloyd Warner, the American upper class in the late 1930s was divided into two groups: lower-upper and upper-upper. The lower-upper class included those with "new money", or money made from investments, business ventures, and so forth. The upper-upper class included aristocratic and "high-society" families with "old money" who had been rich for generations. These extremely wealthy people lived off the income from their inherited riches. The upper-upper class was seen as more prestigious than the lower-upper class.


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  • Old Money — «Old Money» «Старые деньги» Эпизод «Симпсонов» …   Википедия

  • old money — ➔ money * * * old money UK US noun [U] INFORMAL ► ECONOMICS families that have been rich for a long time, considered as a group: »The new billionaires and millionaires are reluctant to adopt the practice of America s old money …   Financial and business terms

  • old money — old .money n [U] people who come from families that have had a lot of money for a long time, which gives them a high social position ▪ He invited both the smart set and Perth s old money …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • old money — old money, adj. 1. inherited wealth, esp. wealth that confers status and social acceptance. 2. a family or forebears possessing such wealth. * * * …   Universalium

  • old money — [also O M ] n. 1. wealth acquired long ago and passed down through the generations, often regarded as conferring privileged status 2. a person, family, etc. possessing such wealth …   English World dictionary

  • Old money — This article is about the socioeconomic term. For other uses, see Old money (disambiguation). Old money is the inherited wealth of established upper class families (i.e. gentry, patriciate) or a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited… …   Wikipedia

  • old money — noun the inherited wealth of established upper class families he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth she is the daughter of old money from Massachusetts • Syn: ↑silver spoon • Hypernyms: ↑inherited wealth * * * noun [noncount] : people… …   Useful english dictionary

  • old money — an inheritance, money that has been in the family for decades    She bought that property with old money money that her great grandfather saved …   English idioms

  • old money — noun a) Families that have been wealthy for generations or members of such families. These scales say I weigh 72 kilograms; whats that in old money? b) The monetary system used in the United Kingdom before decimalisation (1971) and consisting of… …   Wiktionary

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