Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person of humble origin who attains sudden wealth, power, or importance, especially one made immodest or presumptuous by the change; a parvenu.
  • adjective Suddenly raised to a position of consequence.
  • adjective Self-important; presumptuous.
  • intransitive verb To spring or start up suddenly.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To start or spring up suddenly.
  • noun One who or that which starts or springs up suddenly; specifically, a person who suddenly rises from a humble position to wealth, power, or consequence; a parvenu.
  • noun One who assumes a lofty or arrogant tone.
  • noun A puddle made by the hoofs of horses in clayey ground. Halliwell. The meadow-saffron, Colchicum autumnale, whose flowers spring up suddenly without leaves.
  • Starting up suddenly; quickly rising.
  • Suddenly raised to prominence or consequence; parvenu: as, “a race of upstart creatures,”
  • Characteristic of a parvenu; new and pretentious.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To start or spring up suddenly.
  • adjective Suddenly raised to prominence or consequence.
  • noun One who has risen suddenly, as from low life to wealth, power, or honor; a parvenu.
  • noun (Bot.) The meadow saffron.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who has suddenly gained wealth, power, or other prominence, but either has not received social acceptance or has become arrogant or presumptuous.
  • adjective self-important and presumptuous
  • verb to rise suddenly, to spring

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an arrogant or presumptuous person
  • noun a gymnastic exercise performed starting from a position with the legs over the upper body and moving to an erect position by arching the back and swinging the legs out and down while forcing the chest upright
  • noun a person who has suddenly risen to a higher economic status but has not gained social acceptance of others in that class
  • adjective characteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the social skills appropriate for this new position

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

up- +‎ start

Support

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Examples

  • #Remove a bew upstart scripts cd/etc/init rm mountall* upstart*

    Planet Ubuntu bodhi.zazen 2010

  • #Remove a bew upstart scripts cd/etc/init rm mountall* upstart*

    Planet Ubuntu bodhi.zazen 2010

  • #Remove a bew upstart scripts cd/etc/init rm mountall* upstart*

    Planet Ubuntu bodhi.zazen 2010

  • McCain, war hero, American patriot will prevail against the one term upstart from Illinois with questionable personal affiliations and no experience in the international theater.

    McCain & Firefighters 2008

  • I guess the licensing is useful for large business to restrain upstart competitors.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The Solicitor General Lays an Egg 2010

  • Murdoch said the energy of the iconoclastic and unconventional should not be curbed, adding: When the upstart is too successful, somehow the old interests surface, and restrictions on growth are proposed or imposed.

    Rupert Murdoch uses Margaret Thatcher lecture for a display of power John Kampfner 2010

  • His connections remain undecided about going on to the May 16 Preakness, preferring to take some time to see how their upstart is doing.

    Dream of roses becomes reality 2009

  • However, the upstart is teh upset to this whole thing!

    Clinton chastises press for ignoring sexism 2008

  • With potential applications ranging from protective gear for the military, police, and firefighters to safety seats for cars that protect against high-force impact to soundproofing, the feisty upstart is attracting the attention of big-league players such as NASA and Boeing.

    Batman-Like Suit Hardens into Protective Shell on Impact | Impact Lab 2006

  • The woman on the left (who looks a bit like Téa Leoni, I think) is obviously being confronted with some entitled upstart (look at that nose in the air!) and is on the point of delivering a well-deserved set-down.

    August 2007 2007

Comments

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    June 6, 2008

  • *twitching*

    June 6, 2008

  • See comment on startup.

    May 22, 2012