upstart

1 of 2

verb

up·​start ˌəp-ˈstärt 

upstarted; upstarting; upstarts

intransitive verb

: to jump up (as to one's feet) suddenly

upstart

2 of 2

noun

up·​start ˈəp-ˌstärt 

1

: one that has risen suddenly (as from a low position to wealth or power) : parvenu

especially : one that claims more personal importance than is warranted

2

: a start-up enterprise

upstart

ˈəp-ˈstärt 

adjective

Synonyms of upstart

Noun

• arriviste
• parvenu
• adventurer
• nouveau riche

Examples of upstart in a Sentence

Noun

a young upstart from Harvard who thinks he knows more than the boss

having made their money in oil decades ago, they consider these billionaire dot-commers mere upstarts

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Those accomplishments came at a time when Toronto was largely seen as a baseball upstart, which might have impacted the individual honors that Stieb won during his career, and in turn hurt his Hall of Fame case later on. — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 25 July 2026

Featured were the young upstart Isaac Mizrahi, va-va-voom Italian Gianni Versace, the effusive Frenchman Christian Lacroix, and the Turkish eclectic Rifat Ozbek. — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 23 July 2026

Psych-folk upstart Dagmar Zuniga is taking her 2025 debut album for a road trip this fall, with a tour across America and Europe, and support from Japanese composer Yasuaki Shimizu. — Alex Suskind, Pitchfork, 21 July 2026

Argentina, the reigning world champions and heavy favorite, needed extra time to beat the upstarts in their first World Cup, but not before Cape Verde’s Sidny Lopes Cabral scored an incredible extra-time goal and ran into the crowd to celebrate. — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 20 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for upstart

• apart
• depart
• flowchart
• forepart
• impart
• pushcart
• rampart
• redstart
• restart
• subpart
• sweetheart
• art

Kids Definition

upstart

noun

up·​start

ˈəp-ˌstärt

: a person who has risen suddenly (as from a low position to wealth or power)

especially : one who makes a great show of success