as in arrivistes
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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Recent Examples of upstarts
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
Major college football has long been a uniquely hostile sport for upstarts.
—Jason Kirk, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Venture capital has flowed into a number of upstarts looking to unseat Nielsen, among them iSpot and EDO, who occupy different pieces of turf in the media ecosystem but share the view that Nielsen’s methods are outdated.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2026
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
In contrast, some upstarts show higher satisfaction scores than major entries despite their minimal market share.
—Ethan Stone, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025
Yet the company faces stiffer competition from a wide range of rivals, including big-box retailers like Walmart, online players like Amazon and upstarts like TikTok Shop.
—Melissa Repko, CNBC, 4 Dec. 2025
Much of that money is being spent on just 10 companies that are all interlocked, with the big companies investing in the AI upstarts, which in turn pump money back into them by buying their products or services.
—Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2025
Along with the expanding upstarts, Silicon Valley’s bellwethers appear to be on solid and strengthening ground.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 25 Nov. 2025
Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 23 Jan. 2026
Major college football has long been a uniquely hostile sport for upstarts.
—Jason Kirk, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Venture capital has flowed into a number of upstarts looking to unseat Nielsen, among them iSpot and EDO, who occupy different pieces of turf in the media ecosystem but share the view that Nielsen’s methods are outdated.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 15 Jan. 2026
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
In contrast, some upstarts show higher satisfaction scores than major entries despite their minimal market share.
—Ethan Stone, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025
Yet the company faces stiffer competition from a wide range of rivals, including big-box retailers like Walmart, online players like Amazon and upstarts like TikTok Shop.
—Melissa Repko, CNBC, 4 Dec. 2025
Much of that money is being spent on just 10 companies that are all interlocked, with the big companies investing in the AI upstarts, which in turn pump money back into them by buying their products or services.
—Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 3 Dec. 2025
Along with the expanding upstarts, Silicon Valley’s bellwethers appear to be on solid and strengthening ground.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 25 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for upstarts
arrivistes
Noun
-
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
Cite this Entry
“Upstarts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upstarts. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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