Thesaurus results for UPSTART

upstart

noun

ˈəp-ˌstärt

Definition of upstart

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

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 upstart Yesterday’s punk, grunge, and rebel-outsider upstarts have an uncanny way of evolving into today’s elder statesmen of respectable infamy. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026 Andreessen Horowitz has poured billions into AI upstarts, including backing companies like coding startup Cursor, which was just acquired by SpaceX and voice AI company ElevenLabs. — Josh Sisco, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026 Good luck drawing a crowd of that magnitude every other week via one of the digital upstarts. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 31 July 2026 Those accomplishments came at a time when Toronto was largely seen as a baseball upstart, which might have impacted the individual honors that Stieb won during his career, and in turn hurt his Hall of Fame case later on. — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 25 July 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

Definition of arriviste

Noun

The Sun Trip was founded in France in 2013 by adventurer Florian Bailly, who three years earlier had ridden a solar e-bike solo from France to Japan.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 30 Aug. 2026
This was one aspect of Parton, the adventurer whose insistent self-respect would carry her beyond any limitations others tried to impose on her.

— Ann Powers, NPR, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of adventurer

Noun

And all of this comes on the heels of the glitzy opening of the Six Senses Crans-Montana ski-in, ski-out resort, and the nouveau riche crowd that comes with it.

— Jennifer Leigh Parker, Forbes.com, 4 May 2026
Vandelli thinks Stilley is nouveau riche; Stilley thinks Vandelli is a bully.

— Brian Moylan, Vulture, 1 May 2026

Definition of nouveau riche

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upstart

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“Upstart.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upstart. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of upstart

noun

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