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.

Origin of nouveau riche

1805–15; < French: new rich (person)

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

Cultural 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.”