NOUVEAUX RICHES Synonyms: 11 Similar Words

nouveaux riches

noun

plural of nouveau riche

as in parvenus

one who has recently acquired wealth and social position a nouveau riche who is reportedly using his money to buy his way into Palm Beach society

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for nouveaux riches

Noun

The Dream and Valkyries are upstarts, eliminating the last two WNBA champions en route to setting up their unexpected matchup.

— AJC Sports, AJC.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Art history as a discipline favors upstarts, the avant-garde, protest, outsiders, and transgression—all those timeless modernisms.

— Anna Kornbluh, ARTnews.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of upstarts

Noun

And yet, the digital arrivistes could only gain so much traction with a broader customer base and needed a boost from tie-ins with old-school counterparts.

— Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026
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

Definition of arrivistes

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.

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nouveau riche

nouveaux riches

nouvelle

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“Nouveaux riches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nouveaux%20riches. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of nouveaux riches

noun

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