nouveau riche
[ noo-voh reesh; French noo-voh reesh ]
/ ˈnu voʊ ˈriʃ; French nu voʊ ˈriʃ /
noun, plural nou·veaux riches [noo-voh reesh; French noo-voh reesh] /ˈnu voʊ ˈriʃ; French nu voʊ ˈriʃ/.
a person who is newly rich: the ostentation of the nouveaux riches of the 1920s.
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Nearby words
nourishingly, nourishment, nous, nouveau, nouveau pauvre, nouveau riche, nouveau roman, nouveauté, nouvelle, nouvelle cuisine, nouvelle vague
Origin of nouveau riche
1805–15; < French: new rich (person)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for nouveau riche
nouveau riche
/ (ˌnuːvəʊ ˈriːʃ, French nuvo riʃ) /
noun plural nouveaux riches (ˌnuːvəʊ ˈriːʃ, French nuvo riʃ)
(often plural) a person who has acquired wealth recently and is regarded as vulgarly ostentatious or lacking in social graces
adjective
of or characteristic of the nouveaux riches
Word Origin for nouveau riche
French, literally: new rich
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for nouveau riche
nouveau riche
1813, French, literally "new rich." Opposite noveau pauvre is attested from 1965. Ancient Greek had the same idea in neo-ploutos "newly become rich."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for nouveau riche
nouveau riche
[ (nooh-voh reesh) ]
A pejorative term for one who has recently become rich and who spends money conspicuously. From French, meaning “new rich.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.