Meaning & use
a gold digger
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabledisapprovinginformal
A person who forms a romantic relationship with someone mainly to get their money or expensive gifts.
Grammar: Countable: 'a gold digger', 'two gold diggers'. Often used with 'be' or 'call someone'.
Patterns
- call someone a gold digger
- be a gold digger
- accuse someone of being a gold digger
He realized she was a gold digger when she asked about his bank account on the first date.
The gossip magazine called the young model a gold digger because she married the elderly billionaire.
Don't be a gold digger; find someone you truly love.
Word forms
| plural | gold diggers |
|---|
Common combinations
- call someone a gold digger
- His friends called her a gold digger, but she loved him.
- a gold digger looking for a rich husband
- She was a gold digger looking for a rich husband.
- accuse someone of being a gold digger
- He accused her of being a gold digger after she asked for an expensive car.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fortune hunter
- A more formal term for someone who seeks wealth through marriage; less common in everyday speech.
- materialist
- A broader word for someone who cares too much about money and possessions, not necessarily through romance.
Word family
- gold-digging noun
- The activity of trying to get money from a romantic partner.
Commonly confused: a gold digger or gold miner?
a gold digger vs gold miner
A gold miner is a person who digs for actual gold in the ground; a gold digger is a person who seeks money through relationships.
Practice
What does 'a gold digger' mean?
Choose one answer.
The phrase means someone who forms a relationship mainly for financial gain. The other options are literal or unrelated meanings of 'gold'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a gold digger”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.