money obtained by deception, fraud, artifice, etc.
Origin
1895-1900, Americanism
Examples from the web for easy money
There will be no more free travel, no more easy money, and much less loose talk.
Nor are the bankers the only ones who have built their lifestyle around a heavy flow of easy money.
easy money, which the housing bubble seemed to promise, put people in a forgiving mood.
Too low-key for today's radio, which is desperately chasing a way to make easy money without putting on anything of quality.
State-companies' bosses, under political pressure to create jobs, secured easy money to chase new markets.
Without such easy money, they will trade down to smaller models.
easy money will not restore confidence after a major financial collapse.
That's why easy money hasn't worked to get things moving.
It is the central bank the sets interest rates below the free market level, creating easy money.
easy money will not get the economy moving until confidence has already recovered.
British Dictionary definitions for easy money
easy money
noun
1.
money made with little effort, sometimes dishonestly
2.
(commerce) money that can be borrowed at a low interest rate
Slang definitions & phrases for easy money
easy money
noun phrase
Money easily gotten or earned: easy money for helping in the garden
Idioms and Phrases with easy money
easy money
Money obtained readily, with little effort and, often, illegally. For example, Winning the lottery—that's easy money! or I was wary of making easy money with the insider tips I'd been given. [ c. 1900 ]