Meaning & use
self-made millionaire
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Meaning
nouncountable
A person who has become very rich through their own efforts rather than inheriting money.
Grammar: Countable: a self-made millionaire, two self-made millionaires. The plural adds -s to 'millionaire'.
Patterns
- a self-made millionaire
- become a self-made millionaire
She started with nothing and became a self-made millionaire by age forty.
The book tells the story of a self-made millionaire who grew up in a small village.
He is proud of being a self-made millionaire and never mentions his family's wealth.
Word forms
| plural | self-made millionaires |
|---|
Common combinations
- become a self-made millionaire
- He became a self-made millionaire through hard work and smart investments.
- a self-made millionaire businessman
- The self-made millionaire businessman donated most of his fortune to schools.
- a self-made millionaire at thirty
- She was a self-made millionaire at thirty, running her own software company.
- the story of a self-made millionaire
- The film tells the story of a self-made millionaire from a poor neighborhood.
Synonyms and how they differ
- self-made man
- This is the older, more general phrase for someone who succeeds without help; it does not always mean the person is a millionaire.
- rags-to-riches story
- This describes the whole journey from poverty to wealth, while 'self-made millionaire' describes the person.
Opposites
Word family
- self-made adjective
- Having become successful or rich by your own efforts.
Commonly confused: self-made millionaire or millionaire?
self-made millionaire vs millionaire
A millionaire simply has at least a million dollars or pounds; a self-made millionaire earned it rather than inheriting it.
Practice
After growing up poor, he became a ______ millionaire through his own hard work.
Choose one answer.
'Self-made' means rich through your own efforts, which fits the idea of growing up poor. 'Self-obsessed' means thinking only about yourself, which does not describe how the money was earned.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “self-made millionaire”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.