On this page12 sections
- Quick picker: another word for money
- Casual words for money
- American slang for money
- British and Australian slang for money
- Money words in other English-speaking countries
- Formal and business words for money
- Words for a lot of money and a little
- Words to use with care
- The same idea in different registers
- Money phrases that replace "money" altogether
- Practice
- Quick answers
The everyday alternatives to money are cash, funds and finances in neutral English; dough, bucks, bread and moolah in casual American English; and dosh, quid and readies in casual British English. In business writing, use the word that names the kind of money you mean: revenue, income, capital, budget or savings.
Slang for money changes fast and depends on where you are, so this page says where each word is used, how informal it is and which ones carry a meaning you may not want.
On this page: quick picker · casual words · US slang · UK and Australian slang · other countries · formal and business words · big and small amounts · words to use with care · money phrases · practice · quick answers
Quick picker: another word for money
| Situation | Words that fit | Example |
|---|---|---|
| neutral, any audience | cash, funds, finances, means, resources | We don’t have the funds for a new roof this year. |
| chatting with friends (US) | bucks, dough, bread, cash, moolah | Can you lend me twenty bucks? |
| chatting with friends (UK) | dosh, cash, quid, readies | I’m a bit short of dosh until payday. |
| a company’s money | revenue, turnover (UK), profit, capital, budget, cash flow | Annual revenue rose by 8%. |
| money a person earns | income, pay, salary, wages, earnings | Her salary covers the rent with a little left over. |
| money a person has | savings, wealth, assets, a nest egg | They spent their savings on the house. |
| coins and small amounts | change, small change, coins, loose change | Have you got any change for the parking meter? |
| legal and official writing | monies, sums, funds, payment, remittance | All monies owed must be paid within 30 days. |
Casual words for money
These are understood almost everywhere English is spoken and are safe in relaxed conversation and informal writing.
- Cash – strictly, notes and coins (“Do you take cash?”), but often just money: “I’m low on cash this month.”
- Dough – mainly American, a little old-fashioned but still common: “He made a lot of dough selling cars.”
- Bread – American, from the same idea as dough: “I need to earn some bread.”
- Moolah – playful, often used jokingly: “That’s a lot of moolah for a pair of shoes.”
- Funds – neutral and slightly formal; also used humorously: “My funds are running low.”
- Means – the money you have to live on: “a family of modest means“, “live within your means“.
American slang for money
| Word | Meaning and notes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| buck(s) | dollar(s); the most common money slang in the US | The ticket was fifty bucks. |
| grand, G, K | a thousand dollars (grand is used in the UK too) | The car cost ten grand. / He makes 80K a year. |
| Benjamins | $100 bills (Benjamin Franklin is on them) | It’s all about the Benjamins. |
| C-note | a $100 bill (C = 100 in Roman numerals) | He slipped the waiter a C-note. |
| greenbacks | US dollars, from the green ink; common in news writing | Tourists paid in greenbacks. |
| cheddar, cheese | money in general; hip-hop slang | He’s out here making cheddar. |
| paper, bands, racks, stacks | money, often a lot of it; bands and racks often mean $1,000 bundles | She’s getting paper now. |
| guap | a lot of money; young, informal | That watch cost some serious guap. |
| dead presidents | banknotes, from the portraits on them | He paid in dead presidents. |
| clams, bones, smackers, simoleons | dollars; old-fashioned and now mostly humorous | That’ll be twenty clams, pal. |
| scratch | money, especially money you are short of | I don’t have the scratch for a vacation. |
British and Australian slang for money
| Word | Meaning and notes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| quid | a pound; the plural is also quid (“five quid”, never “five quids”) | It’s only a few quid. |
| fiver, tenner | a £5 note, a £10 note (Australians use them for $5 and $10 too) | Can you lend me a tenner? |
| dosh | money in general; very common | They’ve spent a lot of dosh on that kitchen. |
| readies | cash in hand | He wanted paying in readies. |
| wonga | money; jokey | That’s a lot of wonga. |
| brass | money, in northern England (“where there’s muck, there’s brass”) | He’s got plenty of brass. |
| score, pony, ton, monkey | £20, £25, £100 and £500; mostly London and spoken | I sold the bike for a ton. |
| a packet | a lot of money | That holiday must have cost a packet. |
| bucks | dollars in Australia and New Zealand too | It was only ten bucks. |
You may also see dollarydoos for Australian dollars. It comes from a joke in The Simpsons; Australians use it only jokingly.
Money words in other English-speaking countries
- Canada: bucks for dollars, a loonie for the $1 coin (it shows a loon, a water bird) and a toonie for the $2 coin. “Parking is two toonies an hour.”
- India: large sums are counted in lakhs (100,000) and crores (10 million), so “₹5 lakh” is 500,000 rupees. Indian English readers expect these words in prices and salaries; other readers may need the figure.
- Ireland: many people still say quid for a euro in casual speech, a leftover from the Irish pound.
- South Africa: bucks is used for rand in casual speech: “It cost fifty bucks.”
- Everywhere online: $$$ and the money-bag emoji stand in for money in casual posts, and k for thousand (a 50k salary) is understood across the English-speaking world.
If your readers are international, write the amount with its currency (“$40”, “£40”, “₹4,000”) and keep slang for the people who share it with you.
Formal and business words for money
In formal writing, “money” is rarely wrong, but a more exact word is usually better. Each of these names a particular kind of money:
| Word | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| funds | money available for a purpose | The charity raised funds for a new clinic. |
| finances | the money a person or organization has and how it is managed | The club’s finances are in good shape. |
| capital | money used to start or grow a business or to invest | They need more capital to open a second shop. |
| revenue / turnover | money a business takes in before costs (turnover is British) | Revenue fell, but costs fell faster. |
| profit, earnings | what is left after costs | The firm reported record earnings. |
| income | money a person or household receives regularly | Rent takes a third of their income. |
| salary / wages / pay | money for work (salary: yearly or monthly; wages: hourly or weekly) | The job’s pay is good. |
| budget | money planned for something | The project is over budget. |
| assets, wealth | everything of value someone owns | Most of their wealth is in property. |
| currency | the money system of a country | The euro is the currency of most EU countries. |
| remittance | money sent, especially to family abroad | Many families rely on remittances from relatives overseas. |
Words for a lot of money and a little
- A lot: a fortune, a small fortune, a pretty penny, a bundle, a packet (UK), a mint, top dollar, megabucks. “Renovating that house will cost a pretty penny.”
- A little: peanuts, chump change (US), pocket money, small change, a pittance. “They pay peanuts for overtime.”
- Having lots: loaded, rolling in it, flush, well off, comfortable. More in idioms for rich.
- Having none: broke, skint (UK), strapped for cash, hard up, short. Gentler options are in nice ways to say poor.
Words to use with care
- Loot first means stolen goods. As slang for money it is jokey (“Look at all this loot!”), but “the robbers took the loot” means stolen property.
- Bling is flashy jewelry, not money.
- Gravy is extra money that comes easily (“Anything over the base fee is gravy“), not money in general.
- Change means coins or the money you get back, not money in general: “Keep the change.”
- Currency is a country’s money system. You have money or cash in your wallet, not “currency” (except in banking: “foreign currency“).
- Monies is a real plural, but only in legal and financial writing. Do not use it in conversation.
- Shekels is the currency of Israel. As slang for money it has been used in antisemitic stereotypes, so it is best avoided.
- Dinero is Spanish for money. English speakers use it as playful slang, mostly in the US.
- Coin is now also slang for money (“making coin“) and for cryptocurrency. In formal writing, it means a metal coin.
The same idea in different registers
| Very casual | Neutral | Formal |
|---|---|---|
| I’m out of dough. | I don’t have much money right now. | I have limited funds at present. |
| That cost a packet. | That was expensive. | The cost was considerable. |
| He’s loaded. | He has a lot of money. | He is wealthy. |
| Can you spot me ten bucks? | Can you lend me ten dollars? | Would you be able to advance me $10? |
| We’re making good cash now. | The business earns well now. | The company is now profitable. |
For figurative language about money, see metaphors for money (“money is a tool”, “cash cow”) and similes for money.
Money phrases that replace “money” altogether
Often the most natural English avoids the noun and uses a phrase about earning, spending or owing:
| Instead of… | Try | Example |
|---|---|---|
| earn money for the family | bring home the bacon, be the breadwinner | She’s the main breadwinner now. |
| have just enough money | make ends meet, get by | On one salary they barely make ends meet. |
| spend a lot of money | splash out (UK), splurge, push the boat out (UK) | We splashed out on a hotel by the sea. |
| cost a lot of money | cost an arm and a leg, break the bank, pay through the nose | A taxi from the airport won’t break the bank. |
| pay the money | foot the bill, pick up the tab, cough up, fork out | The company picked up the tab for dinner. |
| give money together | chip in, club together (UK), pitch in | We all chipped in for her leaving present. |
| save money | put money aside, save for a rainy day, tighten your belt | They’re putting a little aside each month. |
| make a lot of money fast | make a killing, rake it in, cash in | Hotels rake it in during the festival. |
These are idioms, so keep them for conversation, blogs and informal emails; in a report, say “the cost was high” or “the company paid”.
Practice
Choose the best word. Answers are below.
- In an annual report: “The company’s (dough / revenue / moolah) grew by 12%.”
- To a friend in London: “Can you lend me a (tenner / C-note / Benjamin)?”
- In a contract: “All (monies / bucks / cash) due under this agreement…”
- To a friend in Chicago: “The concert tickets were 80 (quid / bucks / funds).”
- “They earn very little” in casual speech: “They get paid (gravy / peanuts / bling).”
- “Have you got any (change / currency / capital) for the vending machine?”
- A polite way to say someone has little money: “They are a family of (modest means / no dosh / zero guap).”
- Which is correct in British English: “It cost five quid” or “It cost five quids”?
Answers: 1 revenue · 2 tenner · 3 monies · 4 bucks · 5 peanuts · 6 change · 7 modest means · 8 five quid (quid has no -s plural).
Quick answers
What is a fancy word for money?
Funds, finances, capital, wealth or means, depending on what you mean. “Pecuniary” is the formal adjective (pecuniary loss).
What is a slang word for money?
Bucks, dough, bread, cheddar and paper in the US; dosh, quid and readies in the UK.
Why is money called bread or dough?
Bread has long stood for what you need to live on (as in “earn your daily bread”), and dough is the stuff bread is made from. Both became American slang: dough in the 1800s, bread in the 20th century.
What is another word for “a lot of money”?
A fortune, a small fortune, a bundle, a packet, a pretty penny or megabucks.
What is a professional word for money in a CV or email?
Use the exact term: budget (“managed a $2m budget”), revenue (“grew revenue 20%”), funding or savings.
More on figurative language: what figurative language is.