from rags to riches

Idioms  

1. From being poor to being wealthy, especially through one's own efforts. For example, The invention catapulted the scientist from rags to riches. Horatio Alger (1834–1899) popularized this theme in some 130 best-selling novels, in which the hero, through hard work and thrift, pulled himself out of poverty to wealth and happiness.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

from rags to riches

The 1979 saga of a young woman's journey from rags to riches stayed on the New York Times' bestseller list for 43 weeks.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024

He “went from rags to riches and, like myself and many other members, is a small-business owner,” Ms. Boebert said in her nomination speech.

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2023

“They went from rags to riches to rags,” Schofield said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 11, 2022

The customers inevitably choose the most decrepit structure, which the Gaineses transform from rags to riches.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2019

The nineteenth-century economic creed had taught that hard work unlocked the door which led from rags to riches.

From The Black Experience in America by Coombs, Norman