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Glite Dictionary
to cheat one's way to the top

to cheat one's way to the top

1 7.8
To get a high job or power by being dishonest
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : hacer trampa para llegar a la cima
  • The problem is your accusatory tone, straw man arguments, etc., which arouses the feeling in others that they don't want to engage you at all because they already know that you are trying to cheat your way to the top in the exchange.

Examples

  • Many believe that some politicians cheat their way to the top through dishonest tactics.

  • Lie, bully, dope, and cheat your way to the top?

    Blog text (13)

  • Second of all, you're nuts if you think kidnapping me is gonna help you cheat your way to the top.

    Monsters, Inc. (2001)

  • Unlike those who try to cheat their way to the top, like Princeton Heights did... ... when they played two ineligible 19-year-olds.

    Facing the Giants (2006)

  • Several people recently interviewed have begun to paint a portrait of a woman who has been lying and cheating her way to the top for years. "Frank, she applied for the job at ERF so she could spy for the spy shop," I said.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • He tried to cheat his way to the top by spreading false rumors about his colleagues.

  • She managed to cheat her way to the top by taking credit for someone else's work.

Synonyms

to cheat
vsto cheat one's way to the top
474 1.2

To act dishonestly to gain an unfair advantage

is aimed at reaching high status or power rather than general advantage

Antonyms

to earn
947 1.0

To get respect from others because you behave well

How Dishonest

to rig
114 6.9
to bribe
140 4.1
to cheat one's way to the top
  • Informal
1 7.8
to use
∞ 6.3

Surface Forms

cheat one's way to the top infinitive
cheated one's way to the top past
cheated one's way to the top past participle
cheating one's way to the top present participle
cheats one's way to the top third person singular

Morphology

cheat + one + way + to + the + top

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'cheat' (use dishonest methods) + 'way' (manner/method) + 'top' (highest position): it literally means to reach the top by cheating. The construction 'X one's way to Y' is productive and common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

Cheat one's way to the top makes you imagine a person climbing a ladder but using a secret rope or hidden steps to get ahead; the cheat is the trick, the way is the path, and the top is the goal. That's why it means 'to succeed by cheating'.