upstart

upstart
   A term of abuse for a person whose social or professional position has suddenly risen, and who is felt to be making improper use of his new-found power. ‘You little upstart’ is addressed, in A Kind of Loving, by Stan Barstow, to her son-in-law by a working-class woman. The young man in question has normally been polite to her, but has arrived home drunk and is doing some plain speaking. In this instance her use of the term clearly indicates her own feelings of social superiority.

A dictionary of epithets and terms of address . . 2015.

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  • Upstart — Entwickler Scott Remnant, Canonical Ltd. Aktuelle Version 1.3 (14. Juni 2011) Betriebssystem Unix und unixoide Betriebssysteme Programmier­sprache …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Upstart — Développeur Scott James Remnant Dernière version …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Upstart — Тип Init daemon Автор Scott James Remnant …   Википедия

  • Upstart — Up start , a. Suddenly raised to prominence or consequence. A race of upstart creatures. Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • upstart — UK US /ˈʌpstɑːt/ noun [C] ► WORKPLACE a company that has only recently been started: »The article shows how mature companies can challenge upstarts. »Larger drug companies are buying up many of the upstart firms …   Financial and business terms

  • upstart — (n.) 1550s, one newly risen in importance or rank, a parvenu, also start up, from UP (Cf. up) + START (Cf. start) (v.) in the sense of jump, spring, rise. Cf. the archaic verb upstart to spring to one s feet, attested from c.1300 …   Etymology dictionary

  • upstart — upstart1 [up′stärt΄] n. a person who has recently come into wealth, power, etc., esp. one who behaves in a presumptuous, aggressive manner; parvenu adj. 1. newly rich, powerful, etc. 2. of or characteristic of an upstart upstart2 [up stärt′] vi …   English World dictionary

  • Upstart — Up*start , v. i. To start or spring up suddenly. Spenser. Tennyson. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Upstart — Up start , n. 1. One who has risen suddenly, as from low life to wealth, power, or honor; a parvenu. Bacon. [1913 Webster] 2. (Bot.) The meadow saffron. Dr. Prior. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • upstart — [n] newly rich name dropper, nouveau riche, parvenue, social climber, status seeker; concept 347 …   New thesaurus

  • upstart — ► NOUN derogatory ▪ a person who has risen suddenly to prominence and behaves arrogantly …   English terms dictionary

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