social climbers
Ambitious social aspirants
Social climbers are people who seek to advance their social standing, typically through cultivating relationships with those of higher status rather than through personal achievement.
The term is almost always derogatory, suggesting someone who is calculating, superficial, or willing to abandon old friends for more prestigious ones: The party was full of social climbers angling for invitations to the governor's mansion.
Ambitious social newcomer
- parvenuGraceless new-money type
- upstartArrogant recent success
- gold-diggerOne pursuing wealthy partners
- fortune-hunterOne pursuing wealthy partners
striver · wannabe · hanger-on · gate-crasher · name-dropper · courtesan
Crafty and calculating
- ingratiationDeliberate favor-seeking behavior
- flatteryExcessive insincere praise
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
- maneuveringSkillful directional control
cunning · pretense · strategizing · name-dropping · positioning · insincerity · facade · two-faced
Casual strategic socializing
- connectionsRelationships between things
- minglingCasual social interaction
- galasElaborate festive gatherings
- fundraisersEvents gathering money for causes
mixers · soirees · cultivating · introductions · well-connected · access
Portable climbing frame
- advancementForward movement or promotion
- status-seekingPursuing higher position
- strivingEarnest sustained endeavor
- ascentUpward movement
rise · self-improvement · progress · aspirants · goal-oriented · determination · driven · elevation
Rule by hereditary elite
- upper-classSocially and economically privileged
- bluebloodsHereditary upper class
- gentryHighborn but not noble
- nobilityTitled ruling class
debutantes · exclusivity · privilege · pedigree · socialites · upper-crust · high-born · establishment
arriviste
Ambitious social newcomer
- parvenuGraceless new-money type
- upstartArrogant recent success
- gold-diggerOne pursuing wealthy partners
fortune-hunter · striver · wannabe · hanger-on · gate-crasher · name-dropper · courtesan
scheming
Crafty and calculating
- ingratiationDeliberate favor-seeking behavior
- flatteryExcessive insincere praise
- calculatingColdly self-serving in strategy
maneuvering · cunning · pretense · strategizing · name-dropping · positioning · insincerity · facade · two-faced · artifice
schmoozing
Casual strategic socializing
- connectionsRelationships between things
- minglingCasual social interaction
- galasElaborate festive gatherings
fundraisers · mixers · soirees · cultivating · introductions · well-connected · access
ladder
Portable climbing frame
- advancementForward movement or promotion
- status-seekingPursuing higher position
- strivingEarnest sustained endeavor
ascent · rise · self-improvement · progress · aspirants · goal-oriented · determination · driven · elevation · ambitious
aristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
- upper-classSocially and economically privileged
- bluebloodsHereditary upper class
- gentryHighborn but not noble
nobility · debutantes · exclusivity · privilege · pedigree · socialites · upper-crust · high-born · establishment · patricians
- high societygossip, socialites, socialite, aristocrats, aristocrat
- upstartsnewcomers, rookies, novices, newbies, challengers
- Gilded Age Marriages
- deceiversliar, liars, deceiver, fraud, fake
- luxuryluxury, wealth, luxurious, opulent, opulence
- roguesrogue, rogues, scoundrel, scoundrels, rascal
social climbersdownshifters
Those choosing simpler lives
unambitious · dropouts · hermits · salt of the earth · renunciants
climb, social, society, climbing, sociable, climber, antisocial, socially, sociability