private means
One's own funds
Private means refers to personal wealth, income, or financial resources that allow someone to live without working for wages.
A person of private means has enough money—typically from inheritance, investments, or family wealth—to support themselves independently: He was a gentleman of private means who spent his days painting.
The phrase carries an old-fashioned, genteel quality, suggesting comfortable circumstances without specifying the amount.
- incomeRegular monetary receipts
- passive incomeMoney earned without labor
- affluenceAbundance of money
- trust fundAssets held for another
- silver spoonSymbol of inherited wealth
annuity · nest egg · inheritance · generational wealth · assets · net worth · capital · rentier · estate · savings · privilege · aristocracy · endowment · luxury goods · upper class · elite · independence · investments
private meanspublic funding
Government-allocated monetary support
government funding · state funding · taxpayer money · government support · public resources
private meansgovernment funding
Money from the state
public assistance · state support · welfare · public funds · government benefits
private, means, mean, meaning, privately, privateer, privacy, privation, deprive