uang pelumas

Indonesian

Etymology

From uang (“money”) +‎ pelumas (“grease”), from calque of Dutch smeergeld (“graft, bribe”, literally “to grease + money”).

Noun

uang pelumas (first-person possessive uang pelumasku, second-person possessive uang pelumasmu, third-person possessive uang pelumasnya)

1. (figurative, colloquial) graft, bribe

   Synonyms: uang pelicin, uang semir

   Synonyms: suap, sogokan

Further reading

• “uang pelumas” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.