Nouveau riche is an adjective that means a rich person who has recently acquired their wealth as opposed to having inherited it.

Our word of the day comes directly from a French phrase that translates to ‘new rich.’ The word is frequently used in the plural to describe a class of people who have only recently come into money.

I find all the nouveau rich very charming in their own way. Sure they don’t have the refinement of those of us who came into our money the old fashioned way, but that only makes them all the more refreshing.