golden ticket

noun

plural golden tickets
: an extremely valuable opportunity or means of access to something desired
Back in 2005, the little-known playwright Glen Berger snagged a golden ticket of a job: writing the script for a Spider-Man musical directed by the MacArthur-certified genius Julie Taymor (The Lion King), with a score by U2's Bono and the Edge.Thom Geier
The bachelor's degree, he thinks, is the golden ticket that makes a career and everything else possible.Thomas Frank
… everyone I fight, I am their golden ticket because they know if they can beat me, they will make a name for themselves and go on to bigger and better things.James Degale

Examples of golden ticket in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Against all odds, an impoverished but sweet-natured boy named Charlie Bucket wins a golden ticket. Meghan Davy Sandvold, Twin Cities, 8 Feb. 2025 Receiving the legal golden ticket were brother James B. Biden; Sara Jones Biden, James’s wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Biden’s sister; John T. Owens, Owens’s husband; and brother Francis W. Biden. Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 23 Jan. 2025 Getting the chance to helm a studio feature is, of course, not the golden ticket for any director. Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 16 Jan. 2025 That's creating anxiety among white students who were raised to believe a degree was their golden ticket. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for golden ticket 

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of golden ticket was in 1890

Dictionary Entries Near golden ticket

Cite this Entry

“Golden ticket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golden%20ticket. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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