to climb the social ladder
1
4.8
- idiom
:
ascender en la escala social
- The daughter of a failed merchant, she became, according to an early biographer, "intoxicated by a golden dream of pomp and show" and initially attempted to climb the social ladder through her marriage to Thomas Robinson, a self-proclaimed heir to a large fortune.
He had one wife, one friend, the king, and one studio, the palace, and spent his whole life climbing the social ladder.
- He had one wife, one friend, the king, and one studio, the palace, and spent his whole life climbing the social ladder.
Examples
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If you're gonna lose it every time some bim decides to climb the social ladder, you're never gonna make it!
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And I am not a dejected Office Space extra, climbing the social ladder like some paper-pushing howler monkey.
Blog text (2) -
Lucky to get the part, Elliot acquiesces to Mark's interpretation because he wants to make it big and climb the social ladder.
Fiction book (1994) -
They now stood to earn college degrees and the chance to climb the social ladder in their adoptive country.
Academic text (2017) -
But being a shrewd politician, he attempts to climb the "social ladder" by arranging for his sister to marry a member of a Jerusalemite family.
Academic text (2004) -
"We found that women view men in red as higher in status, more likely to make money, and more likely to climb the social ladder," lead author Andrew Elliot, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said in a university news release.
Blog text (31) -
They therefore saw no reason to help, nor to associate with lower-class African Americans, whom they thought did not even try to climb the social ladder.
Academic text (2002) -
Although she is intellectually and artistically very beautiful and talented, Heian society will not allow her to climb the social ladder (Field 173).
Academic text (1992) -
After years of hard work, she is finally climbing the social ladder by making valuable connections in her industry.
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He attended many networking events to climb the social ladder and improve his career prospects.
Synonyms
154
2.7
To move to a higher job or position
43
3.2
Get a better job or higher position at work
39
4.4
To move up to a more important job or position
7
4.5
To get more successful and reach a higher social or economic position
To move to a higher position at work or in society
How High
258
4.7
104
2.7
1
4.8
- US
68
2.8
16
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a conventional metaphor mapping physical climbing + a 'ladder' onto social hierarchy: 'climb' (rise) + 'social' (relating to society) + 'ladder' (hierarchical levels) together suggest improving social status. Because the meaning is a metaphorical but widely used and cross-linguistically common mapping, learners who know the constituents can often infer the sense, yet it is not purely literal composition, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Climb the social ladder uses the image of a real ladder you climb to reach higher places. Imagine moving up the rungs to stand above others; that's why it means 'to improve one's social status' or 'gain more respect'.