fat cat

noun

1

a

: a wealthy contributor to a political campaign fund

b

: a wealthy and privileged person

c

: big shot

2

: a lethargic complacent person

fat-cat

ˈfat-ˌkat 

adjective

Synonyms

• capitalist
• Croesus
• deep pocket
• have
• money
• moneybags
• plutocrat
• silk stocking

Examples of fat cat in a Sentence

The best seats in the theater were reserved for the fat cats.

that last recession was particularly hard on the poor, but the fat cats barely noticed a dip in their bank accounts

Recent Examples on the Web

Namely, many ordinary Indians apparently took enormous glee at the prospect that the sudden invalidation of high-denomination currency notes would put fat cats with large cash holdings in a bind. —Milan Vaishnav, Foreign Affairs, 15 Mar. 2017

Poor poll numbers caused panicky Democratic Party oligarchs and fat cat donors to oust him as their candidate. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 7 Aug. 2024

But Bergman’s the sort of lawyer who strikes fear in fat cats’ hearts. —Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2024

So if a fat cat wrote a check for $10,000 to a candidate for Senate, there would be a match on $250. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 1a