Smart Money
Preserved but no longer current.
Money paid by a person to obtain exemption from some disagreeable office or duty, or given to soldiers or sailors for injuries received in the service; in law it means a heavy fine. It either makes the person smart," Le. suffer, or else the person who receives it is paid for smarting.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Smart Money” mean?
Money paid by a person to obtain exemption from some disagreeable office or duty, or given to soldiers or sailors for injuries received in the service; in law it means a heavy fine. It either makes the person smart," Le. suffer, or else the person who receives it is paid for smarting.
Is “Smart Money” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.