Definition

1. Noun:
   • The practice of lending money at an exorbitant or illegally high rate of interest: "Usury" refers to the act of charging borrowers an excessively high or unlawful amount of interest on a loan.
   • An exorbitant or unlawfully high rate of interest charged: "Usury" can also refer to the exorbitant interest rate itself.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The ancient laws strictly forbade usury. (The ancient laws strictly forbade the practice of lending money at exorbitant interest.)
  • He was accused of charging usury on small loans to desperate people. (He was accused of charging an unlawfully high interest rate on small loans to desperate people.)

Advanced Usage

• "To practice usury": to engage in the business of lending money at illegally high interest.
  • The loan shark was known to practice usury in the poorest neighborhoods.
• "A rate of usury": an interest rate that is considered exorbitant or illegal.
  • The new regulations aim to eliminate any rate of usury in the consumer credit market.

Variants and Related Words

• Usurer (noun): a person who lends money at exorbitant interest rates.
  • The novel portrayed the moneylender as a greedy usurer.
• Usurious (adjective): constituting or characterized by usury; practicing usury.
  • The contract was declared void due to its usurious terms.

Synonyms

• Loan-sharking: the practice of lending money at extremely high interest rates, typically by illegal means.
• Exploitative lending: lending that takes unfair advantage of the borrower's situation.

Related Phrases

• To lend at usury: to provide a loan with an exorbitant interest rate.
  • In the past, some merchants would lend at usury to farmers before the harvest.

Related Idioms

• "The sin of usury": a phrase, often with historical or religious connotations, referring to the moral or religious prohibition against charging excessive interest.
  • The sermon discussed the sin of usury and its impact on community trust.

Noun

1. the act of lending money at an exorbitant rate of interest
2. an exorbitant or unlawful rate of interest