as in arriviste
one who has recently acquired wealth and social position
having made their money in oil decades ago, they consider these billionaire dot-commers mere upstarts
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of upstart
Crawford and Sandoval are both established MLB veterans who missed all of last season due to injuries, while Early, Tolle and Harrison are promising upstarts still looking to establish themselves as big leaguers.
—
Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
All of this has left room for upstarts such as Douglas Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a growing network of more than 150 Christian-nationalist congregations.
—Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
YouTube in particular has become the home in many ways for late night, with both the network shows and wholly original digital upstarts battling for their share of the conversation.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 23 Jan. 2026
The Clippers are no longer an upstart and the Lakers are no longer among the NBA’s elite, all of which makes Thursday night’s crosstown showdown at the Intuit Dome just another midseason game.
—Janis Carr, Oc Register, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for upstart
Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 29 Jan. 2026
All of this has left room for upstarts such as Douglas Wilson’s Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a growing network of more than 150 Christian-nationalist congregations.
—Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026
YouTube in particular has become the home in many ways for late night, with both the network shows and wholly original digital upstarts battling for their share of the conversation.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 23 Jan. 2026
The Clippers are no longer an upstart and the Lakers are no longer among the NBA’s elite, all of which makes Thursday night’s crosstown showdown at the Intuit Dome just another midseason game.
—Janis Carr, Oc Register, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for upstart
Recent Examples of Synonyms for upstart
Noun
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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
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Compared with some of her peers, she was initially seen as an arriviste.—
Caitlin Moscatello,
New York Times,
3 Mar. 2023
Noun
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In 1952, backed by little more than his reputation as a war hero and a fortune staked by his parvenu father, 35-year-old John F. Kennedy swiped a Senate seat from Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, himself a wealthy combat veteran.—
Kevin Mahnken,
The New Republic,
1 Sep. 2020
-
Raveendran, at least on paper, assumes his place among those parvenus thanks to his effort in internet education.—
Saritha Rai,
Fortune,
29 July 2019
Noun
-
Earlier in the interview, Turner looked ahead to a bright future in her role as Croft, the adventurer and gaming icon who was named by the BAFTA Game Awards' global poll as the most iconic video game character of all time in 2024, over the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog, Pikachu, and Mario.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 Jan. 2026
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The Game of Thrones and X-Men star is decked out as the globe-trotting archaeologist and adventurer in the debut photo from Prime Video’s reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise (see it, below).—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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With the farm suddenly unsustainable, there’s nothing for it but to pack up and seek work in Pristina, where Hatixhe’s sister Lina (Fiona Gllavica) lives a comfortable nouveau riche life in a large, gleaming new-build home courtesy of her entrepreneur husband Alban (Alban Ukaj).—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
31 Jan. 2026
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For decades, when most people thought about Baden-Baden, the image that likely came to mind was that of a rather stuffy luxury resort where wealthy seniors shared the town with nouveau riche newcomers.—
CNT Editors,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Upstart.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upstart. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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