View synonyms for hush money

hush money

noun

a bribe to keep someone silent about something, especially to keep the receiver from exposing a scandal.

hush money

slang.
money given to a person, such as an accomplice, to ensure that something is kept secret

First recorded in 1700–10

A bribe paid to keep something secret, as in No amount of hush money will keep that scandal from coming out . [c. 1700]

The Church would “deal with the families in as limited way as possible, and pay them hush money.”

He wants “more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe.”

Plumbers, hush money, enemies list, smoking-gun tape, the whole nine yards.

The employee described it as a kind of hush money, making staffers disinclined to question dubious company practices.

He evidently has no suspicion, or he would have come to us for hush-money long ago.

At such a moment then, called our ladies-legatees, clamorous for hush-money.

His father looked at him with a countenance full of disgust, and answered grimly: "Oh, it's hush-money you're after, is it?"

Said he was afraid it would lead him to accept ‘dirty money’—you know, hush money—from real wrongdoers.

Will the bell-boy who works for tips grow up to be a policeman who accepts hush-money from the corner saloon-keeper?

April 17, 2024axolotl

[ak-suh-lot-l ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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