nouveaux riches

Definition of nouveaux richesnext
plural of nouveau riche
as in parvenus
one who has recently acquired wealth and social position a nouveau riche who is reportedly using his money to buy his way into Palm Beach society

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
See the Dictionary Definition 

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nouveaux riches
Noun
  • This October marks the festival’s inaugural run in Miami Beach, but the event is already poised to become a must-attend affair for everyone from independent creatives to brand executives, corporate gurus and scrappy upstarts.
    Caitlin White, Variety, 29 Apr. 2026
  • Sets from upstarts like Creepy Nuts, Pawsa, Geese and Slayyyter, along with emphatic crowds at rock heavyweights like Jack White, Turnstile and even Sombr, traded seamlessness and precision for immediacy and friction — louder, looser, more physical in ways that were best felt than watched.
    Andrea Domanick, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2026
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
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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nouveaux riches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nouveaux%20riches. Accessed 5 May. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster