Nouveau riche

Nouveau riche (French for 'new rich'; French:), new rich, or new money (in contrast to old money; French: vieux riche) is a social class describing rich individuals whose wealth was acquired within their own lifetime, rather than by familial inheritance. These individuals had previously belonged to a lower social class or economic stratum (rank) within that class, but the acquisition of new money enabled upward social mobility. Nouveau riche have the means for conspicuous consumption, the buying of goods and services that signal membership in an upper class. As a pejorative term, nouveau riche describes the vulgarity and ostentation of the newly rich individual who lacks the worldly experience and value system of old money, or inherited wealth, such as the patriciate, the nobility, the gentry, or elites. However, some who rose from lower social classes see nouveau riche as a compliment rather than an insult, viewing it as recognition that they built their own wealth and status.