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
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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
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Going public would put SpaceX in the company of older, traditional aerospace heavyweights, such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and industry upstarts, such as Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace.—
Ramin Skibba,
Scientific American,
26 Dec. 2025
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In contrast, some upstarts show higher satisfaction scores than major entries despite their minimal market share.—
Ethan Stone,
USA Today,
11 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Arrivistes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arrivistes. Accessed 21 Jan. 2026.
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