rags to riches en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
By surface analysis, a change from wearing ragged clothing (due to being impoverished) to obtaining a lot of money.
Meanings
-
(attributive) From poverty to exceptional wealth.
[…] and finally [Oprah Winfrey] declared herself not only “a believer in the American dream of rags to riches” but living proof of its veracity.
2016 [2008], Janice Peck, Age of Oprah: Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Era, Routledge, →ISBN, page IV:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| rags-to-riches | alternative | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Relateds
nepotism (antonymic contrast) · self-made (from poverty to wealth) · Horatio Alger · nepo baby · go from zero to hero (from low social station to high)
Translations (17)
fi ryysyistä rikkauksiin (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · sv från koja till slott (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · pl od zera do milionera (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · fi tuhkimotarina (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · pt renascido das cinzas (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · cmn 麻雀變鳳凰 /麻雀变凤凰 (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · hu koldusból királyfi (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · ar مِنَ الْفَقْرِ الْمُطْلَقِ إِلَى غِنَى الْفَاحِشِ (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · fr de la misère à la richesse (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · it dalle stalle alle stelle (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · mk од нула до кула (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · de vom Tellerwäscher zum Millionär (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · gl da pobreza á riqueza (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · pt da miséria a riqueza (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · la per aspera ad astra (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · ar مِنَ الْعُسْرِ إِلَى الْيُسْرِ (from poverty to exceptional wealth) · ar مِنَ الْفَقْرِ إِلَى الثَّرَاءِ (from poverty to exceptional wealth)