as in parvenus
one who has recently acquired wealth and social position
the town's old money immediately shunned these vulgar arrivistes, who may have had the cash but certainly not the class
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of arrivistes
Certainly there’s a long and distinguished tradition of associating Jewish arrivistes with entrepreneurialism, avarice, and clannishness.
—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arrivistes
upstarts
Noun
-
Bread Financial works with upstarts like legal AI firm Harvey and AI content platform Jasper.—
John Kell,
Fortune,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Tech companies and artificial intelligence upstarts have unleashed a South Bay leasing surge that has produced the region’s best quarter for office space rental activity since the end of the coronavirus outbreak, a new report has disclosed.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
6 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Arrivistes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arrivistes. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
