English Reference
Idiom idiom

corporate welfare bum


A business corporation or business executive receiving significant financial assistance from government sources.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

The politician called the failing company a corporate welfare bum.

He thinks every billionaire who takes a government grant is a corporate welfare bum.

That shipping company acts like a corporate welfare bum by avoiding all its taxes.

CONTEXTUAL

Critics argue that the airline is a corporate welfare bum because it relies on government subsidies to survive.

Local activists protested the new factory, claiming the wealthy owners are just corporate welfare bums looking for free land and tax exemptions.

Small business owners often feel frustrated when a corporate welfare bum receives millions in aid while they struggle to pay their monthly rent.

During the public debate, the professor explained how a corporate welfare bum can stay profitable only by using money taken from regular taxpayers.

COMPLEX

The editorial condemned the massive tax breaks for the bank, labeling the institution a corporate welfare bum that exploits public funds for private gain.


first recorded 20th c.

Coined in 1972 by Canadian labor leader and politician David Lewis (1909-1981). The term postdates welfare bum: it represents a blend of corporate welfare + welfare bum.


Related idioms6entries
  1. 01

    bum rap

    An undeservedly unfavorable portrayal or reputation.

  2. 02

    bum rush

    A storming into an establishment.

  3. 03

    bum steer

    Bad advice or information, regardless of intention.

  4. 04

    bum's rush

    The forcible ejection of someone, such as a bum or a hobo, from an establishment.

  5. 05

    corporate ladder

    The hierarchy or ranking system of employment positions within a business organization; especially, such a hierarchy viewed as a ladder to be climbed (to successive higher-ranking positions) while one is pursuing a career path.

  6. 06

    welfare Cadillac

    The case of a person or group receiving public benefits, although the benefits are not actually needed by the recipient or are obtained by fraud.

Last updated August 10, 2026