# velvet handcuffs

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/velvet-handcuffs
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Golden handcuffs: any arrangement designed to provide favorable benefits or pay so as to discourage a participant from choosing to leave it.

## Examples

- The high salary acts like velvet handcuffs for many employees.
- She wants to quit her job to travel, but the generous bonus plan feels like velvet handcuffs.
- Although he felt uninspired by his corporate role, the exceptional benefits package served as velvet handcuffs, effectively binding him to a career he no longer found meaningful.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.