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

Networking is your golden ticket—rub elbows with industry pros, hit up events and join online communities. —Expert Panel®, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024

While the pass sounds like a golden ticket to fans of the parks' most popular attractions, the pricing has raised some eyebrows. —Natalia Senanayake, People.com, 16 Oct. 2024

If Sony desires a franchise from the Supermassive library, Until Dawn is their golden ticket. —Aimee Hart, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2024

The package also showed popcorn, an apple with a pastry, a golden ticket and a church robe. —Dana Rose Falcone, People.com, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above