rags to riches

Meanings

noun

attributiveFrom 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
Antonyms: riches to rags

nounFrom poverty to exceptional wealth.

Opposite

By surface analysis, a change from wearing ragged clothing (due to being impoverished) to obtaining a lot of money.

Arabic مِنَ الْفَقْرِ إِلَى الثَّرَاءِ, مِنَ الْفَقْرِ الْمُطْلَقِ إِلَى غِنَى الْفَاحِشِ

مِنَ الْفَقْرِ إِلَى الثَّرَاءِ (mina l-faqri ʔilā ṯ-ṯarāʔi)from poverty to exceptional wealth
مِنَ الْفَقْرِ الْمُطْلَقِ إِلَى غِنَى الْفَاحِشِ (mina l-faqri l-muṭlaqi ʔilā ḡinā l-fāḥiši)from poverty to exceptional wealth
مِنَ الْعُسْرِ إِلَى الْيُسْرِ (mina l-ʕusri ʔilā l-yusri)from poverty to exceptional wealth

Chinese Mandarin 麻雀變鳳凰 /麻雀变凤凰

Finnish tuhkimotarina, ryysyistä rikkauksiin

French de la misère à la richesse

German vom Tellerwäscher zum Millionär

Hungarian koldusból királyfi

Italian dalle stalle alle stelle

Latin per aspera ad astra

Polish od zera do milionera

Portuguese da miséria a riqueza, renascido das cinzas

Swedish från koja till slott

Cite this entry

APA

rags to riches. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rags%20to%20riches

MLA

“rags to riches.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rags%20to%20riches. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rags to riches,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rags%20to%20riches.