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.
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
1813, French, literally “new rich.” Opposite noveau pauvre is attested from 1965. Ancient Greek had the same idea in neo-ploutos “newly become rich.” A pejorative term for one who has recently become rich and who spends money conspicuously. From French, meaning “new rich.”