Idiom grammar point
the rich
Meaning
Rich people considered as a group. Like "the poor", this is "the" + an adjective used for a whole class of people, and it takes a plural verb: "The rich are…".
Examples
“The rich pay more tax in some countries.”
“Critics argued that the new law helped the rich far more than ordinary families.”
“In the resort town, the rich arrived by helicopter each July and left by September, barely noticing the workers who kept their villas running all year.”
Last updated July 27, 2026