upstart

1 of 2

verb

up·​start ˌəp-ˈstärt 

upstarted; upstarting; upstarts

intransitive verb

: to jump up (as to one's feet) suddenly

upstart

2 of 2

noun

up·​start ˈəp-ˌstärt 

1

: one that has risen suddenly (as from a low position to wealth or power) : parvenu

especially : one that claims more personal importance than is warranted

2

: a start-up enterprise

upstart

ˈəp-ˈstärt 

adjective

Synonyms

Noun

• arriviste
• nouveau riche
• parvenu

Examples of upstart in a Sentence

Noun

a young upstart from Harvard who thinks he knows more than the boss

having made their money in oil decades ago, they consider these billionaire dot-commers mere upstarts

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Reliance Jio, the telecommunications firm under Ambani’s Reliance Industries and an upstart less than a decade ago, is now India’s biggest mobile provider. —Lee Ying Shan,arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2024

And in the spirit of entrepreneurialism that America is known for, many of LA Apparel’s clients are ambitious upstarts. —Kate Nishimura, Sourcing Journal, 4 Sep. 2024

The company is fighting to maintain its dominance in search advertising as artificial intelligence upstarts like OpenAI and Perplexity grow in popularity. —Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2024

Separately, the New York Times has reported on tension between OpenAI and Microsoft, which has already put $13 billion into the upstart. —John Kell, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

upstart

noun

up·​start

ˈəp-ˌstärt

: a person who has risen suddenly (as from a low position to wealth or power)

especially : one who makes a great show of success