rags
Britishplural noun
-
torn, old, or shabby clothing
-
cotton or linen cloth waste used in the manufacture of rag paper
-
informal
-
from poverty to great wealth
-
( as modifier )
a rags-to-riches tale
-
-
informal best clothes; finery
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With the mayor’s vocal support, Mr. Bratton put broken-windows policing to work, arresting “squeegee men” who smeared dirty rags across motorists’ windshields, holding them hostage for a “contribution.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
If your social-worker friend envies your designer clothes, you don’t have to ditch your Prada for rags, but it’s probably better not to festoon your outfit with your biggest diamond.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
"This walkthrough immersive experience has some seated scenes and themed bars, giving you a multi-sensory journey through Elvis' rags to riches story from country boy to musical icon," it adds.
From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025
We say that the “Cinderella” story is rags to riches, but in all versions, especially the European ones, she is a noble girl put into the kitchen by her wicked stepmother.
From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025
Large families lived in small, crude lean-tos with dirt floors and roofs made of banana bark thatch, often patched with rags to stop leaks during the rainy season.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
