old money

people who have managed their money carefully over many generations and increased the value of their holdings by careful financial management. many of these people own a large estate and may also have a town house. they do not follow the popular fashion fads and wear good quality clothing that has a timeless look. everything about them may be summed up in a few words good taste and quality
most of the old money in ireland belongs to the gentry and families with businesses established the 1800s and early part of the 1900s
inherited capital; best when the money has been in the family for at least 3 generations.
the pews, the rockefellers, the duponts, the fords, the mellons, and the vanderbilts all certainly qualify as old money.
people who come from families that have had a lot of money for a long time, which gives them a high social position
he invited both the smart set and perth’s old money.
families that have been affluent for several decades (in america) or several centuries (in europe).

old money families in the u.s. are often wasps. they have a very distinctive style that includes brands such as lilly pulitzer and eliza b. their children go to generally east coast prep schools such as st. pauls, exeter, choate, andover and so forth. they summer in places like bar harbor, nantucket, south hampton, the vineyard, etc.

in europe, old money is synonymous with aristocracy. dukes, counts, marquis etc. and their relatives. in france, spain, and italy they are typically catholic and own hunting estates, and summer and ski in the same places. their children go to catholic schools, which can be in some cases single-s-x.

p.s: another person mentioned paris hilton as old money. this is not so as paris’ grandfather was the one to become rich, which means they are still very much new money. in fact, her att-tude and attire probably epitomize new money.
as i walked down the street in the 16 arrondiss-m-nt of paris, i saw this group of sixteen year olds who were dressed in a very elegant and subdued way and looked like they had just gone hunting. they were decidedly old money.

the traditional american preppy style is much flashier than the old money european style, as all americans are new money compared to european n-bility.
the definition of someone who is just old news to you and the people around you you call them old money.
friend: hey you hear about what happened to that girl you use to date three years ago

me:yea you mean old money what about her
the descendants of some criminal a thousand years ago who didnt get caught and put his money in the bank instead of spending it because he was terribly boring, notwithstanding his criminality
paris hilton is old money.