upstart
/ˈʌp.stɑːt/US/ˈʌp.stɑɹt/
upstart noun: one who has suddenly gained wealth, power, or other prominence, but either has not received social acceptance or has become arrogant or presumptuous.
Noun
upstart (plural upstarts)
- One who has suddenly gained wealth, power, or other prominence, but either has not received social acceptance or has become arrogant or presumptuous.
- upstarts […]they call in reproach mushrooms1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VI. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William...
- [S]he has no fair pretence of family or blood. She was nobody when he married her, barely the daughter of a gentleman; but ever since her being turned into a Churchill she has out-Churchill’d them all in high and mighty claims: but in herself, I assure you, she is an upstart.”1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XVIII, in Emma: […], volume II, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 345
- Synonyms:
- arriviste, nouveau riche, parvenu
- The meadow saffron.
Adjective
upstart (comparative more upstart, superlative most upstart)
- Acting like a parvenu.
- Self-important and presumptuous.
Verb
upstart (third-person singular simple present upstarts, present participle upstarting, simple past and past participle upstarted)
- To rise suddenly, to spring
- Th' Elfe therewith astownd,
Upstarted lightly from his looser make,
And his unready weapons gan in hand to take.1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC - the beauteous beast
Scared by the noise upstarted at our feet1859, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page)”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC
- Th' Elfe therewith astownd,
upstart meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
upstart in Tamil
- செல்வம், செல்வாக்கு, புதுப் பணக்காரன், இறுமாப்புள்ள இளைஞன், தன்மூப்பானவன்
upstart in Malayalam
- arriviste, parvenu(e), nouveau riche
- പുതുപണക്കാരൻ, പുതുമടിശ്ശീലക്കാരൻ, പുത്തൻപ്രമാണി, ഔപാദികൻ, പെട്ടെന്നു പ്രതാപെെശ്വര്യങ്ങൾ ഉണ്ടായവൻ, സ്വന്തം കഴിവുകൊണ്ട് ഉയർച്ച പ്രാപിച്ചവൻ
upstart in Kannada
- ದಿಢೀರನೆ ಶ್ರೀಮಂತನಾದವ, ನವಶ್ರೀಮಂತ, ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದಲೋ ಮೇಲಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದವ, ದುರಹಂಕಾರಿ ಅಶಿಷ್ಟ
Examples of upstart in a sentence
- His spacious quarters indicate his transition from backbench upstart to established member of the governing team.
- The focus of Simpson’s ire was a spunky, young upstart, the plucky 39-year-old Chase Utley.
- Digital upstarts like Buzzfeed and The Verge are relying on “long-form” editors to create big features.
Synonyms of upstart
Forms of upstart
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | upstarts |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more upstart |
| superlative | most upstart |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | upstarts |
| present participle | upstarting |
| past participle | upstarted |
| past | upstarted |
Origin of upstart
From Middle English upstarten, upsterten, equivalent to up- + start.
Words formed from upstart
Questions about upstart
- What does upstart mean?
- Upstart means one who has suddenly gained wealth, power, or other prominence, but either has not received social acceptance or has become arrogant or presumptuous.
- What is upstart in Tamil?
- Upstart in Tamil is செல்வம், செல்வாக்கு, புதுப் பணக்காரன். See Upstart meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is upstart?
- Upstart can be a noun, an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce upstart?
- Upstart is pronounced /ˈʌp.stɑːt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of upstart?
- The plural of upstart is upstarts.
Words near upstart in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: upstart (page history and authors); upstart (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upstart (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); upstart (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-upstart.wav.
Cite this entry: “upstart.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/upstart. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.