usury
YOO-zhuh-ree
/ˈjuːʒəri/
The practice of lending money at unreasonably high or illegal rates of interest.
Carries a strong negative, moral, or illegal connotation, implying the exploitation of vulnerable borrowers.
The story behind the word. In ancient Rome, 'usura' simply meant the payment for using someone else's money. However, during the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church condemned charging any interest at all as a sin, transforming 'usury' into a term for sinful, excessive lending.
Word relationships
- loan-sharking: Loan-sharking is the modern, informal, and highly illegal practice, while usury is the formal, historical, and legal term.
- exploitation: Exploitation is general unfair treatment, while usury is strictly financial exploitation via interest rates.
- fair lending: Lending money at reasonable, legal, and ethical interest rates.
Commonly confused with
- interest: Interest is the standard, legal fee for borrowing money, while usury is an excessive, illegal, or unethical rate of interest.
Word family
- usurious (adjective): Charging illegal or exorbitant rates of interest.
- usurer (noun): A person who lends money at exorbitant rates.
Collocations
- commit usury
- usury laws
- accused of usury
Example sentences
- "Usury is a concessum propter duritiem cordis: for since there must be borrowing, and men are so hard of heart as they will not lend common without interest." Francis Bacon's famous essay on economics. (Francis Bacon, Of Usury)
- "The state passed strict laws to protect consumers from the usury of predatory payday lenders." A modern critique of payday lenders.
Memory hook
Think of 'Use-You-ry'. A lender who commits usury is going to 'use you' and drain your wallet. Usury is when lenders use you for profit.
When not to use
Do not use to describe standard, legal bank interest rates; it must refer to extortionate, predatory, or illegal rates.
Fun facts
- In Dante's Inferno, usurers are placed in the seventh circle of Hell, sitting on burning sand while clutching heavy purses decorated with their coats of arms.
Related words
Explore more words
exploitation, predatory, exploit, covetous, usurp, discriminatory
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.