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The original Croesus was a 6th-century B.C. king of Lydia, an ancient kingdom in what is now Turkey. Croesus conquered many surrounding regions, grew very wealthy, and became the subject of legends. In one legend, he was visited by Solon, the wise Athenian lawgiver. (Historians say this isn't chronologically possible, but it makes a good story.) Solon supposedly told Croesus, who thought he had everything: "Account no man happy before his death." These words made Croesus angry, and he threw the lawmaker out of his court. Croesus would rethink Solon's pronouncement later when his empire was overthrown by the Persians. Croesus' name shows up in the phrase "rich as Croesus," meaning "filthy rich," and it has also entered English as a generic term for someone extremely wealthy.
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Examples of Croesus in a Sentence
Hamish Bowles, Vogue, 5 Aug. 2024
As long as the boom proceeded, successful traders became as rich as Croesus.
—Alan S. Blinder, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2015
Toyota, with more money than Croesus and more engineers than MIT, ran an F1 team from 2002 to 2009, reportedly spending hundreds of millions of dollars.
—Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press, 17 Feb. 2024
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“Croesus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Croesus. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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