Meaning
To make yourself comfortably wealthy, especially by quietly accumulating money, perks, or advantages through a job or official position. The phrase typically carries disapproval, implying self-interest at others' expense, and it is a staple of political and financial reporting about self-enrichment. Disapproving; strongly associated with political and financial journalism about self-enrichment. Regional use: General English.
Origin
A straightforward metaphor from nature: many birds line their nests with soft feathers and down, often plucked from their own breasts, to cushion their eggs and young. Transferred to people, the image of making one's own bed comfortable became a byword for providing for oneself, and the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms dates the figurative expression to the mid-1500s, with Grammarist likewise confirming 16th-century currency. There is no colourful origin story to report: the earliest uses are simply the metaphor itself, and the sharper modern sense of enriching oneself through office grew out of it over the following centuries.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- feather his nest
- feather one's nest at the public's expense
- feather their nests
- feather your own nest
Usage Examples
- Auditors found that the director had been feathering his nest with consulting fees from the charity's own suppliers.
- Critics say the scheme was designed to help ministers feather their nests before the election.
- There is nothing wrong with negotiating a good salary, as long as you are not feathering your nest at the shareholders' expense.