in the money

Meanings

prepositional phrase

idiomaticPossessing money; rich.
1933: We're In The Money — song title, lyrics Al Dubin, music Harry Warren https://web.archive.org/web/20101126014740/http://harrywarren.org/songs/0140.htm We're in the money. We're in the money. / We've got a lot of what it takes to get along.
businessFor an option, having a strike price which makes it profitable to exercise. For a call this is a strike below the market price, or for a put a strike above the market price.
Achieving a sufficiently high ranking in a contest to earn money (for oneself, or for those who have placed a bet).
The cash prizes for first, second and third place were too enticing to pass up. If he finished in the money he could just hang out for the next year and concentrate on his new life as Timothy Gales.
2014, Poe Hawkins, The Last Alchemist: And the Love of His Life, page 149
Antonyms: out of the money

prepositional phraseAchieving a sufficiently high ranking in a contest to earn money (for oneself, or for those who have placed a bet).

Opposite

Cite this entry

APA

in the money. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20money

MLA

“in the money.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20money. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in the money,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20the%20money.