fat cat

Slang Dictionary

fat-cat definition


  1. n.
    someone with great wealth and the accompanying success. : I like to watch the fat-cats go by in their beemers.
  2. mod.
    having to do with wealth or a wealthy person. : You'll never see me driving any of those fat-cat cars.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

fat cat

A wealthy and privileged person, as in This neighborhood, with its million-dollar estates, is full of fat cats. This term originally meant "a rich contributor to a political campaign," and while this usage persists, it now is often applied more broadly, as in the example. [Colloquial; 1920s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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