golden handshake
noun
Simple meaning
A generous severance payment.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gohlduhnandshaykSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡoʊldənændʃeɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
idiomatic
A generous severance payment, especially as an inducement to leave employment.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A generous severance payment, especially as an inducement to leave employment.
Used this way, golden handshake is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Generous and giving
- Usage feel
- Warm and expressive
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “golden handshake” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.