Idiom
trophy wife
Meaning
A wife, usually young and attractive, regarded as a status symbol for her husband, usually older and affluent.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He likes to show off his trophy wife at every party.”
“The retired athlete marries a trophy wife to improve his public image.”
“The wealthy businessman was often seen at high-society events accompanied by his much younger trophy wife.”
“She hated the way the media treated her as a trophy wife just because her husband owned a famous tech company.”
“After his divorce, the billionaire looked for a trophy wife who would look perfect in photos during his political campaign.”
“Critics often dismissed her professional accomplishments, unfairly labeling her as nothing more than a trophy wife for her influential husband.”
Examples
simple
“He likes to show off his trophy wife at every party.”
“The retired athlete marries a trophy wife to improve his public image.”
contextual
“The wealthy businessman was often seen at high-society events accompanied by his much younger trophy wife.”
“She hated the way the media treated her as a trophy wife just because her husband owned a famous tech company.”
“After his divorce, the billionaire looked for a trophy wife who would look perfect in photos during his political campaign.”
complex
“Critics often dismissed her professional accomplishments, unfairly labeling her as nothing more than a trophy wife for her influential husband.”
Origin
The term was popularised in 1989 by the journalist Julie Connelly within a cover story for Fortune magazine. It was constructed by analogy with the real estate industry's use of trophy building, a term for a property of such high status that it serves primarily as a public display of the owner’s wealth.
Key words
Related idioms
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