upwardly mobile
Rising in status
Upwardly mobile describes people moving toward higher social or economic status.
The term emerged in sociology but now appears commonly in discussions of class and aspiration: an upwardly mobile young professional, upwardly mobile families moving to better neighborhoods.
The phrase often carries slight irony, suggesting striving or status-consciousness.
- yuppieAmbitious urban professional
- urbaniteMetropolitan resident
- status symbolsObjects signaling wealth
- keeping up with the JonesesStriving to match neighbors' lifestyle
- affluentHaving abundant financial resources
enterprising · cosmopolitan · white-collar worker · six-figure salary · gentrifying · meritocracy · social climbing · credential inflation · economic opportunity · starter home · corporate ladder · corner office · power suit · conspicuous consumption · aspiring · ambitious · bourgeois · country club
- social classupper class, middle class, lower class, working class, social class
- wealth statuspoor, rich, wealthy, affluent, middle-class
upwardly mobiledownwardly mobile
Losing socioeconomic status
in decline · losing ground · impoverished · falling on hard times · stagnant
upwardly mobileunambitious
Lacking desire for achievement
complacent · resigned · satisfied · unmotivated · aimless
upwardly mobilestagnant
Without movement or progress
going nowhere · trapped · stuck in a rut · dead-end · static
mobile, upward, mobility, upwards, upwardly, upward mobility