Definition of LUCRE

lucre

Plural: lucres

Noun

  • Monetary gain, especially when considered sordid or ill-gotten.
  • informal terms for money
  • the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)
  • Money, riches, or wealth, especially when seen as having a corrupting effect or causing greed, or obtained in an underhanded manner.

Examples

  • He was more interested in the intellectual challenge than the lucre of winning Scrabble.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English lūcre, lucor, lucour, lucur (“gain in money, profit; money; wages; illicit gain; advantage, benefit”), from Old French lucre or Latin lucrum (“advantage, profit; love of gain, avarice”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂w- (“gain, profit”) + *-tlom (variant of *-trom (suffix forming nouns denoting tools or instruments)).

Scrabble Score: 7

lucre: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
lucre: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
lucre: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

lucre: valid Words With Friends Word