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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.
Consider this your golden ticket to shop smart, pack better, and snag the kind of savings that make travel season feel like a luxury — without the splurge. Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 29 Nov. 2025 During the 1-hour and 45-minute trip, passengers will receive hot chocolate and a cookie from dancing chefs, listen to a reading of the book, and have their golden ticket punched by the conductor. Haadiza Ogwude, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 Nov. 2025 Top of mind for Elphaba is freeing the Animals, who have been conscripted into terrible slavery, mostly because the Wizard keenly understands that to keep people together, a common enemy (real or imagined) is the true golden ticket. Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 18 Nov. 2025 Learning to code has never been a golden ticket to professional success. Tarika Barrett, Time, 13 Nov. 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

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Cite this Entry

“Golden ticket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/golden%20ticket. Accessed 4 Dec. 2025.

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