"rags to riches" meaning in All languages combined

See rags to riches on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: En-au-rags to riches.ogg
Etymology: By surface analysis, a change from wearing ragged clothing (due to being impoverished) to obtaining a lot of money. Head templates: {{head|en|noun}} rags to riches
  1. (chiefly attributive) From poverty to exceptional wealth. Tags: attributive Categories (topical): Poverty, Wealth Synonyms: rags-to-riches Related terms: Horatio Alger, nepo baby Related terms (antonymic contrast): nepotism Related terms (from low social station to high): go from zero to hero Related terms (from poverty to wealth): self-made Translations (from poverty to exceptional wealth): مِنَ الْفَقْرِ إِلَى الثَّرَاءِ (mina l-faqri ʔilā ṯ-ṯarāʔi) (Arabic), مِنَ الْفَقْرِ الْمُطْلَقِ إِلَى غِنَى الْفَاحِشِ (mina l-faqri l-muṭlaqi ʔilā ḡinā l-fāḥiši) (Arabic), مِنَ الْعُسْرِ إِلَى الْيُسْرِ (mina l-ʕusri ʔilā l-yusri) (Arabic), 麻雀變鳳凰 (Chinese Mandarin), 麻雀变凤凰 (máquè biàn fènghuáng) (Chinese Mandarin), tuhkimotarina (Finnish), ryysyistä rikkauksiin (Finnish), de la misère à la richesse (French), da pobreza á riqueza (Galician), vom Tellerwäscher zum Millionär (German), koldusból királyfi (Hungarian), dalle stalle alle stelle (Italian), per aspera ad astra (Latin), od zera do milionera (Polish), da miséria a riqueza (Portuguese), renascido das cinzas (Portuguese), från koja till slott (Swedish)

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_text": "By surface analysis, a change from wearing ragged clothing (due to being impoverished) to obtaining a lot of money.",
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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          "word": "riches to rags"
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Poverty",
          "orig": "en:Poverty",
          "parents": [
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          "ref": "2016 [2008], Janice Peck, Age of Oprah: Cultural Icon for the Neoliberal Era, Routledge, →ISBN, page IV:",
          "text": "[…] and finally [Oprah Winfrey] declared herself not only “a believer in the American dream of rags to riches” but living proof of its veracity.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "From poverty to exceptional wealth."
      ],
      "id": "en-rags_to_riches-en-noun-AWJ8BLqx",
      "links": [
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          "poverty",
          "poverty"
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        [
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          "wealth"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly attributive) From poverty to exceptional wealth."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "sense": "from poverty to wealth",
          "word": "self-made"
        },
        {
          "word": "Horatio Alger"
        },
        {
          "word": "nepo baby"
        },
        {
          "sense": "from low social station to high",
          "word": "go from zero to hero"
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          "sense": "antonymic contrast",
          "word": "nepotism"
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        {
          "word": "rags-to-riches"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "mina l-faqri ʔilā ṯ-ṯarāʔi",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "مِنَ الْفَقْرِ إِلَى الثَّرَاءِ"
        },
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "mina l-faqri l-muṭlaqi ʔilā ḡinā l-fāḥiši",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "مِنَ الْفَقْرِ الْمُطْلَقِ إِلَى غِنَى الْفَاحِشِ"
        },
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "roman": "mina l-ʕusri ʔilā l-yusri",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "مِنَ الْعُسْرِ إِلَى الْيُسْرِ"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "麻雀變鳳凰"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "máquè biàn fènghuáng",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "麻雀变凤凰"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "白手起家 (báishǒuqǐjiā, literally “build up from scratch”)",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "tuhkimotarina"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "ryysyistä rikkauksiin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "de la misère à la richesse"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "da pobreza á riqueza"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "vom Tellerwäscher zum Millionär"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "koldusból királyfi"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "dalle stalle alle stelle"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "note": "無一文から大金持ちに (むいちもんからおおかねもちに, muichimon-kara ōkanemochi-ni, literally “from penniless to a very rich (person)”)",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "per aspera ad astra"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "od zera do milionera"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "da miséria a riqueza"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "renascido das cinzas"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "note": "из гря́зи в кня́зи (iz grjázi v knjázi, literally “from dirt to princedom”)",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
          "word": "från koja till slott"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "rags to riches"
}
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  "etymology_text": "By surface analysis, a change from wearing ragged clothing (due to being impoverished) to obtaining a lot of money.",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "sense": "from poverty to wealth",
      "word": "self-made"
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    {
      "word": "Horatio Alger"
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    {
      "sense": "from low social station to high",
      "word": "go from zero to hero"
    },
    {
      "sense": "antonymic contrast",
      "word": "nepotism"
    },
    {
      "word": "nepo baby"
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          "word": "riches to rags"
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        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Latin translations",
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        "From poverty to exceptional wealth."
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly attributive) From poverty to exceptional wealth."
      ],
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      "word": "rags-to-riches"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "mina l-faqri ʔilā ṯ-ṯarāʔi",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "مِنَ الْفَقْرِ إِلَى الثَّرَاءِ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "mina l-faqri l-muṭlaqi ʔilā ḡinā l-fāḥiši",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "مِنَ الْفَقْرِ الْمُطْلَقِ إِلَى غِنَى الْفَاحِشِ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "roman": "mina l-ʕusri ʔilā l-yusri",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "مِنَ الْعُسْرِ إِلَى الْيُسْرِ"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "麻雀變鳳凰"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "máquè biàn fènghuáng",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "麻雀变凤凰"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "白手起家 (báishǒuqǐjiā, literally “build up from scratch”)",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "tuhkimotarina"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "ryysyistä rikkauksiin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "de la misère à la richesse"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "da pobreza á riqueza"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "vom Tellerwäscher zum Millionär"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "koldusból királyfi"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "dalle stalle alle stelle"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "note": "無一文から大金持ちに (むいちもんからおおかねもちに, muichimon-kara ōkanemochi-ni, literally “from penniless to a very rich (person)”)",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "per aspera ad astra"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "od zera do milionera"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "da miséria a riqueza"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "renascido das cinzas"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "note": "из гря́зи в кня́зи (iz grjázi v knjázi, literally “from dirt to princedom”)",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "from poverty to exceptional wealth",
      "word": "från koja till slott"
    }
  ],
  "word": "rags to riches"
}

Download raw JSONL data for rags to riches meaning in All languages combined (5.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (94ba7e1 and 5dea2a6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.