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.

---

arriviste British  

/ ˌæriːˈviːst, arivist /

noun

1. a person who is unscrupulously ambitious

---

Etymology

Origin of arriviste

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

Example Sentences

Welcome to the second season of HBO’s opulent drama “The Gilded Age,” a series laden with emblematic showdowns between the gaudy arrivistes and the idle drawing-room class.

From New York Times

Neither are they pure expressions of self-made grandeur in the style of today’s proud arrivistes who flag their wealth on social media as a capitalist boast.

From Washington Post

Her circle includes an aunt who is a champion wrestler, a resident Goth named Isabel and sultry Penny Century, an arriviste married to a wealthy magnate with horns on his head.

From Los Angeles Times

Yes, they must have seemed like arrivistes when they came out on top after a long period of civil war.

From Washington Post

Bobby, in contrast, was nervous and volatile, the chess arriviste of Brooklyn, a colt of a player, and as it was beginning to develop, the spearhead of the coming generation of American players.

From Literature