English
Etymology
Old French pelfre, "booty, stolen goods." It is related to pilfer.
Noun
pelf
- archaic money; riches; gain; especially when dishonestly acquired
Quotations
. . . a master manipulator who will twist and dodge around the clock to keep the privileges of power and pelf. --Nick Cohen, "Without prejudice," The Observer, February 20, 2000
She writes about those she might have known first-hand: teenage girls cowering in bunkers . . . friends making promises they can never keep . . . rich folk fattened on wartime pelf, poor folk surviving by wit alone. --Harriet P. Gross, "Author roots her stories in Vietnam War," Dallas Morning News, July 20, 1997
As so often happens, pelf is talking louder than principle at the Colorado legislature. --"Legislature Goes Belly Up," Denver Rocky Mountain News, April 27, 1997
In advertising, show business, and journalism, people work themselves to the nub for glitz and glory more than for pelf. --Ford S. Worthy, "You're Probably Working Too Hard," Fortune, April 27, 1987
Some of the rich classmates were keeping their pelf to themselves. --Nicholas von Hoffman, "The Class of '43 Is Puzzled," The Atlantic, October 1968
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