Meanings
- uncountableA bribe to maintain secrecy (to prevent bad publicity or to prevent the discovery of a crime).
The scandal was even greater when it was announced that hush money had been paid to keep the faulty products unannounced.
3 more examples
He holds, I am given to understand, a small official appointment in the colony. If it were known that he had received hush money, he would be ruined.
1854, James A. Maitland, chapter XXIX, in The Cabin Boy's Story, Garrett & Co., page 297Is paying hush money a crime? In most cases, the answer is no. Hush-money agreements, otherwise known as nondisclosure agreements, have long been used by companies and private individuals to avoid litigation and keep embarrassing information confidential.
2023 April 4, Michael Rothfeld, “Private or Political? Charges Over Hush Money Hinge on Payment’s Purpose”, in The New York Times, →ISSNLawyers defending Mr. Trump, who denies he had sex with her, will likely argue that his employees were responsible for the paper trail that falsely described the reimbursement of the hush money as legal fees for Mr. Cohen.
2024 April 21, Michael Rothfeld, “Tracing the Trail of Hush-Money Deals That Led to Trump’s Prosecution”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 封口費 /封口费, 遮羞費 /遮羞费
- 封口費 /封口费 (fēngkǒufèi)bribe to maintain secrecy
- 遮羞費 /遮羞费 (zhēxiūfèi)bribe to maintain secrecy
Dutch zwijggeld
- zwijggeldbribe to maintain secrecy
Finnish vaikenemisraha, vaitioloraha
- vaikenemisrahabribe to maintain secrecy
- vaitiolorahabribe to maintain secrecy
French pot-de-vin, bakchich
- pot-de-vinbribe to maintain secrecy
- bakchichbribe to maintain secrecy
German Schweigegeld
- Schweigegeldbribe to maintain secrecy
Japanese 口止め料, 鼻薬
- 口止め料 (kuchidomeryō)bribe to maintain secrecy
- 鼻薬 (hanagusuri)bribe to maintain secrecy
Korean 입막음 용 돈, 입막음 돈
- 입막음 용 돈 (immageum yong don)bribe to maintain secrecy
- 입막음 돈 (immageum don)bribe to maintain secrecy
Persian حقالسکوت
- حقالسکوت (haq-os-sokut)bribe to maintain secrecy
Russian де́ньги за молча́ние, бакши́ш
- де́ньги за молча́ние (dénʹgi za molčánije)bribe to maintain secrecy
- бакши́ш (bakšíš)bribe to maintain secrecy
Spanish untada por el silencio, coima para acallar
- untada por el silenciobribe to maintain secrecy
- coima para acallarbribe to maintain secrecy
Turkish sus payı
- sus payıbribe to maintain secrecy
Cite this entry
hush money. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hush%20money
“hush money.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hush%20money. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hush money,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hush%20money.
Source: hush money on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.