mad money

noun

A sum of money, often relatively small in amount, kept in reserve to use for impulsive, frivolous purposes.

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Meanings

nounmad money (uncountable)
  1. idiomaticuncountableA sum of money, often relatively small in amount, kept in reserve to use for impulsive, frivolous purposes.

    Ultrasuede minibags "are just the solution for waste." And for crime. Most minis hardly hold more than mad money and a comb.

    1975 November 10, “Baglets”, in Time
  2. idiomaticuncountableA sum of money kept in reserve or to insulate oneself financially in the event of the sudden breakdown of a relationship in which one is economically dependent.

    Such an expression is mad money, noted as early as 1922 by Howard J. Savage (Dialect Notes 5:148) at the end of an article on Bryn Mawr slang. Savage's definition is 'money a girl carries in case she has a row with her escort and wishes to go home alone.'

    1975, George Javor, “Mad Money: A Semantic Change”, in American Speech, vol. 50, no. 1/2, p. 155
Cite this entry
APA

mad money. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mad%20money

MLA

“mad money.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mad%20money. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mad money,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mad%20money.

Source: mad money on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.