nouveau riche

American  

[noo-voh reesh, noo-voh reesh] / ˈnu voʊ ˈriʃ, nu voʊ ˈriʃ /

noun

plural

nouveaux riches

1. a person who is newly rich.

   the ostentation of the nouveaux riches of the 1920s.

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nouveau riche British  

/ ˌnuːvəʊ ˈriːʃ, nuvo riʃ /

noun

1. (often plural) a person who has acquired wealth recently and is regarded as vulgarly ostentatious or lacking in social graces

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adjective

1. of or characteristic of the nouveaux riches

nouveau riche Cultural  

1. A pejorative term for one who has recently become rich and who spends money conspicuously. From French, meaning “new rich.”

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Etymology

Origin of nouveau riche

1805–15; < French: new rich (person)

Explanation

Someone who's nouveau-riche has recently become wealthy and enjoys spending money. Your nouveau-riche neighbor might buy six expensive cars and put lion sculptures in his front yard. The term nouveau-riche is a derogatory term meant to mock people who have a lot of money but don't have the good taste to spend it in a "classy" way. The implication is that it's more socially acceptable to inherit money and the long traditions that go with it than to suddenly become wealthy. Nouveau-riche, "new rich" in French, dates from 1813, but the idea goes back to the ancient Greek concept of neo-ploutos.

Example Sentences

Nouveau riche rappers, draped in drip, signal success much like a third-generation banker suiting up in Savile Row.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2022

Nouveau riche, thriving, socially clambering, the movie colony lacks lineage and decorum.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Nouveau riche," thought Drusilla Browne, looking up from her own letters.

From The Man from Brodney's by McCutcheon, George Barr