arriviste

American  

[ar-ee-veest, a-ree-veest] / ˌær iˈvist, a riˈvist /

noun

plural

arrivistes

1. a person who has recently acquired unaccustomed status, wealth, or success, especially by dubious means and without earning concomitant esteem.

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arriviste British  

/ ˌæriːˈviːst, arivist /

noun

1. a person who is unscrupulously ambitious

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Etymology

Origin of arriviste

From French, dating back to 1900–05; see origin at arrive, -ist

Explanation

An arriviste is someone who's moved up in the world quickly and ends up being resented. You might visit your hometown and feel like it's full of arrivistes who can pay exorbitant prices for enormous houses. When someone suddenly earns a whole lot more money than they did before, they find themselves in a new economic class. If the people who have belonged to this group for a long time (maybe they inherited their wealth from their grandparents, for example) are resentful of this person and their "new money," they might use the word arriviste. An arriviste is newly arrived in this world — as you can see in the French root, arriver, "to arrive."