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
There are draftniks at ESPN and NBC and the Athletic but also at niche upstarts like Draft Diamonds and Draft Nerds and DraftNasty.
—
Dan Greene, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
Private equity swooped in for many, snatching up mattress company Casper, athleisure brand Outdoor Voices, women’s fashion upstart Reformation and jewelry retailer Catbird.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 18 May 2026
And another launch upstart, Rocket Lab, is trying to nab smaller launch contracts that previously would have gone to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 with its own Electron and soon-to-debut Neutron rockets.
—Ramin Skibba, Scientific American, 4 May 2026
That was until this Dutch upstart with his European aesthetic, lively and colorful stores and eye-popping marketing campaigns began to chisel away at their market share.
—Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 4 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for upstart
Dan Greene, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
Private equity swooped in for many, snatching up mattress company Casper, athleisure brand Outdoor Voices, women’s fashion upstart Reformation and jewelry retailer Catbird.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 18 May 2026
And another launch upstart, Rocket Lab, is trying to nab smaller launch contracts that previously would have gone to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 with its own Electron and soon-to-debut Neutron rockets.
—Ramin Skibba, Scientific American, 4 May 2026
That was until this Dutch upstart with his European aesthetic, lively and colorful stores and eye-popping marketing campaigns began to chisel away at their market share.
—Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 4 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for upstart
Recent Examples of Synonyms for upstart
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
Noun
-
Spurrier, who predominantly sold French vintages, wasn’t expecting anything other than a trouncing for the parvenu.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
25 May 2026
-
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
Noun
-
The series itself follows the famed adventurer as he's joined by celebrities for exciting journeys in the wilderness.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
19 May 2026
-
The Multi-Rack variant also comes with a stain-resistant load area floor and is designed to double as an effective tiny adventurer, DIY transporter, everyday bag carrier and all-around cargo workhorse.—
C.C. Weiss
May 19,
New Atlas,
19 May 2026
Noun
-
Vandelli thinks Stilley is nouveau riche; Stilley thinks Vandelli is a bully.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
-
Emulation of upper-crust speech norms became popular among the nouveau riche.—
Valerie M. Fridland,
The Conversation,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Upstart.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upstart. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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