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
The desire to merge audiences — younger viewers for the mainstream news groups and broader audiences for the digital upstarts — is at the crux of many of these new agreements, which are expected to get more ambitious as time progresses.
—
Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026
In their place are upstarts such as the Philadelphia Flyers, who last qualified in 2020.
—John Wawrow, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
That's when the upstarts take over, and the once-revolutionary companies face the risk of becoming relics.
—Chris Anderson, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Digital upstarts like Substack, Puck, Semafor and Status are planning events ahead of the dinner.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026
Nike also faces intensifying competition from upstarts like Hoka and resurgent rivals such as Adidas in the footwear category.
—Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 13 Apr. 2026
Bread Financial works with upstarts like legal AI firm Harvey and AI content platform Jasper.
—John Kell, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2026
Tech companies and artificial intelligence upstarts have unleashed a South Bay leasing surge that has produced the region’s best quarter for office space rental activity since the end of the coronavirus outbreak, a new report has disclosed.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
The countdown to the biggest-ever World Cup is on, with the 48-team tournament in North America a veritable hodgepodge of stellar names and unheralded upstarts.
—ABC News, 1 Apr. 2026
Brian Steinberg, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026
In their place are upstarts such as the Philadelphia Flyers, who last qualified in 2020.
—John Wawrow, The Orlando Sentinel, 16 Apr. 2026
That's when the upstarts take over, and the once-revolutionary companies face the risk of becoming relics.
—Chris Anderson, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Digital upstarts like Substack, Puck, Semafor and Status are planning events ahead of the dinner.
—Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026
Nike also faces intensifying competition from upstarts like Hoka and resurgent rivals such as Adidas in the footwear category.
—Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 13 Apr. 2026
Bread Financial works with upstarts like legal AI firm Harvey and AI content platform Jasper.
—John Kell, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2026
Tech companies and artificial intelligence upstarts have unleashed a South Bay leasing surge that has produced the region’s best quarter for office space rental activity since the end of the coronavirus outbreak, a new report has disclosed.
—George Avalos, Mercury News, 6 Apr. 2026
The countdown to the biggest-ever World Cup is on, with the 48-team tournament in North America a veritable hodgepodge of stellar names and unheralded upstarts.
—ABC News, 1 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for upstarts
arrivistes
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
Cite this Entry
“Upstarts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upstarts. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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