cash grab

noun

plural cash grabs

: the greedy pursuit of an opportunity for making money especially when done without regard for ethics, concerns, or consequences : money grab

Some Republican leaders have also said any attempt to undo the state's flat tax amounts to a cash grab.

—Steve LeBlanc

… money generated by single-use plastic going onto the market is being swallowed up in a cash grab … with little or no accountability or strategy underpinning it.

—Adam Leyland

also : something (such as a product or service) used for a cash grab

HBO announced a new Harry Potter TV series, and it is an obvious cash grab that is insulting to true fans.

—Victor Lana

But is it good enough to satisfy discerning taco-loving hipsters or is it simply a shameless, cultural appropriating cash grab?

—Joey Morona

It might be more feasible to just give up on college football being anything but a soulless cash grab …

—David Schraub

Examples of cash grab in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In an era of endless IP, Dexter: Original Sin is at least entertaining, and that’s more than can be said for countless other recent cash grabs. —Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 13 Dec. 2024

But more than any of its predecessors, Kraven the Hunter lays bare what their weird cinematic project has always been: a desperate cash grab built on the concept of IP’s earning potential rather than a series of good ideas projected onto the big screen. —Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 13 Dec. 2024

But the year in theater also breathed new life into familiar properties (Our Town, Sunset Blvd., An Enemy of the People, Uncle Vanya, Doubt) and found ways to make I.P. feel like vital art rather than mere cash grabs (Hell’s Kitchen, The Outsiders, The Notebook). —Ew Staff, EW.com, 11 Dec. 2024

But as the book that was heralded as Swift’s rejection of traditional publishing houses by selling directly through Target, fans say the errors raise major concerns over whether the book really was a burden of love or a cash grab. —Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 4 Dec. 2024

Moana 2 is not a complete disaster so much as a superfluous cash grab that has a hard time disguising its roots as a Disney+ series. —Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 28 Nov. 2024

The Boston Globe echoed those sentiments, dubbing the film a mere cash grab, and a lazy one at that. —Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 21 Nov. 2024

When it was announced, the idea of a Bumblebee movie felt like a cynical cash grab. —Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2024

Inside the absurd, surprisingly profound new ‘Housewives’ Nov. 18, 2020 Reality TV can be a lot of things — a bid for attention, a cash grab. —Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above