to fish in troubled waters
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To scramble for personal advantage in times of rebellion, war, etc.; to try to make a calamity a means to personal profit.
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 “to fish in troubled waters” mean?
To scramble for personal advantage in times of rebellion, war, etc.; to try to make a calamity a means to personal profit.
Is “to fish in troubled waters” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.