Word
bucks
Phoneticsbucks
US/ˈbəks/
UK/bˈʌks/
Countable noun
Definition
n. an informal word for dollars or other types of money like pounds. You use it when talking about prices with friends or family.
n. a colloquial term for a unit of currency, most commonly the United States dollar. Informal in register; typically restricted to spoken or casual written contexts.
Examples
“The coffee only costs five bucks.”
“I managed to save fifty bucks this week by making my own lunch instead of eating out.”
“While the initial investment was only a few hundred bucks, the long-term maintenance costs proved to be significantly higher than the owner had anticipated.”
Examples
simple
“The coffee only costs five bucks.”
contextual
“I managed to save fifty bucks this week by making my own lunch instead of eating out.”
complex
“While the initial investment was only a few hundred bucks, the long-term maintenance costs proved to be significantly higher than the owner had anticipated.”
Usage
Almost always used in the plural form when referring to a specific amount of money.
Pitfall
The shirt is ten buck.
The shirt is ten bucks.
Even in informal speech, the word must take the plural 's' when referring to more than one unit of currency.
Etymology
A dollar is called a buck thanks to the American frontier of the 1700s, when deerskins — buckskins — were a standard, widely accepted form of currency long before the official U.S. dollar existed. Settlers and traders bartered pelts with Native American tribes; a buckskin was durable, universally valued, and effectively served as a single unit of money.
The usage is documented directly. In a 1748 journal entry, the Pennsylvania Dutch pioneer Conrad Weiser recorded that someone was robbed of 300 bucks worth of goods, noting that five bucks would buy a cask of whiskey. In 1824, in Sketches of North American Indians, James Buchanan wrote that "each buck-skin [was] one dollar".
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
01. big bucks
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.A2 KeyIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.3.0–4.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 2.0–2.524–43TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.225–549
- Frequency
- Common
- Level
- A2 · Elementary
- Updated
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