What does 'nouveau riche' mean?

'Nouveau riche' (French for 'new rich') is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" (in contrast with "old money"; fr. vieux riche).

Sociologically, 'nouveau riche' refers to the person who previously had belonged to a lower social class and economic stratum (rank) within that class; and that the new money, which constitutes their wealth, allowed upward social mobility and provided the means for conspicuous consumption, the buying of goods and services that signal membership in an upper class.

The idea of 'nouveau riche' dates at least as far back as ancient Greece (c. 8th century BC). In the 6th century BC, the poet and aristocrat Theognis of Megara wrote how "in former days, there was a tribe who knew no laws nor manners ... These men are nobles, now, the gentlemen of old are now the trash".

In the Roman Republic, the term 'novus homo' ("new man") carried similar connotations.