arrivistes
Newly ambitious upstarts
Arrivistes are social climbers—people who have recently arrived at wealth, power, or status and are eager to display it.
The word carries a whiff of contempt, suggesting the person lacks the refinement or taste that supposedly comes with established position: The old families dismissed the newcomers as arrivistes.
Singular: arriviste.
Graceless new-money type
- upstartArrogant recent success
- interloperOne who enters uninvited
- gatecrasherUninvited event attendee
- pretenderIllegitimate claimant to power
climber · jumped-up · usurper · intruder · encroacher · trespasser · infiltrator · crasher
Seeking to achieve
- drivenIntensely determined to achieve
- hungryWanting to eat
- determinedFirmly committed to purpose
- motivatedSpurred to action
eager · zealous · enterprising · competitive · striver · achiever · goal-oriented · success-driven
Artificially contrived behavior
- ostentatiousShowily excessive
- showyExcessively eye-catching
- flashyShowy, often tastelessly so
- gaucheSocially awkward, unrefined
vulgar · tasteless · nouveau · aping · mimicking · posturing · superficial · hollow
Abundance of money
- opulenceShowy, abundant prosperity
- luxuryExpensive nonessential comfort
- mansionsLarge, stately houses
- yachtsLarge recreational sailing vessels
lavish · extravagance · ostentation · bling · display · acquisition · materialism · spending
Pursuing higher position
- networkingBuilding professional relationships
- ladderPortable climbing frame
- connectionsRelationships between things
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
influence · prestige · clout · name-dropping · schmoozing · ingratiating · gatekeeping · exclusivity
parvenu
Graceless new-money type
- upstartArrogant recent success
- interloperOne who enters uninvited
- gatecrasherUninvited event attendee
pretender · climber · jumped-up · usurper · intruder · encroacher · trespasser · infiltrator · crasher · uninvited
aspiring
Seeking to achieve
- drivenIntensely determined to achieve
- hungryWanting to eat
- determinedFirmly committed to purpose
motivated · eager · zealous · enterprising · competitive · striver · achiever · goal-oriented · success-driven · power-hungry
affected
Artificially contrived behavior
- ostentatiousShowily excessive
- showyExcessively eye-catching
- flashyShowy, often tastelessly so
gauche · vulgar · tasteless · nouveau · aping · mimicking · posturing · superficial · hollow · imitative
affluence
Abundance of money
yachts · lavish · extravagance · ostentation · bling · display · acquisition · materialism · spending · flaunting
status-seeking
Pursuing higher position
- networkingBuilding professional relationships
- ladderPortable climbing frame
- connectionsRelationships between things
patronage · influence · prestige · clout · name-dropping · schmoozing · ingratiating · gatekeeping · exclusivity · invitation
- luxuryluxury, wealth, luxurious, opulent, opulence
- unwelcome peopleintruders, trespassers, invaders, uninvited guests, gatecrashers
- throne seekersusurpers, heirs, successors, pretenders, claimants
arrivistesold money
Long-established family fortune
patricians · aristocrats · blue bloods · landed gentry · nobility