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upstart
verb
up·start
| \ ˌəp-ˈstärt
\
\
upstarted;
upstarting;
upstarts
Definition of upstart
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to jump up (as to one's feet) suddenly
upstart
noun
up·start
| \ ˈəp-ˌstärt
\
\
Definition of upstart (Entry 2 of 2)
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
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Other Words from upstart
Noun
upstart
\ ˈəp-ˈstärt
\
adjective
\
adjective
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 upstartsRecent Examples on the Web: Verb
Managing one of the era’s most popular girl groups and upstarting the career of the greatest living entertainer should have seen Mr. Knowles in a position similar to Barry Gordy or at the very least, DJ Khaled. — refinery29.com, "We Will Never Find Out Who Bit Beyoncé — Or Crack These Other Unsolved Beyoncé Mysteries," 28 Mar. 2018 Ben & Jerry’s has rapidly lost U.S. market share to upstart low-calorie ice-cream brand Halo Top, while Unilever’s European deodorant business has had to contend with cut-price German rivals. — Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, "Unilever Cost-Cutting Turns Out to Be Twisty Path to Profits," 19 Oct. 2017 Cleveland music fans will get everything from a few Rock & Roll Hall of Famers to upstart hip-hop acts and some of the biggest pop stars in the world like Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. — cleveland.com, "20 concerts to see in Cleveland this August," 7 Aug. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Like other orbital upstarts, Made in Space is an exception for a simple reason: NASA is currently its primary investor and customer. — Wired, "The Best Place to Make Undersea Cables Might Be ... in Space," 11 Sep. 2019 Sometimes the drama is infused by a young tennis upstart who draws on that energy and pulls off an upset. — Tara Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, "Here’s hoping tennis superstars continue their dominance at US Open," 25 Aug. 2019 Boise State, a mid-major upstart, was a touchdown underdog against Oklahoma, a member of college football royalty. — Scooby Axson, SI.com, "The Greatest Bowl Games in College Football History," 12 Aug. 2019 Rather than resenting the upstart, the great and the good embraced him, awed by his knowledge of arcane subjects such as finance, dazzled by the bright light of his intellect and by his sparkling prose. — The Economist, "A new biography of Walter Bagehot, “the greatest Victorian”," 8 Aug. 2019 Anne Wojcicki, who heads up the DTC genetic testing upstart 23andMe, also comes to mind (although that company isn't public). — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, "A $43 Billion Biotech Now Has a Female CEO: Brainstorm Health," 25 July 2019 Through impeccable management across the board and youthful impetus, both these upstarts have risen above and beyond their rivals, and can now unquestionably boast to being the bigger, better team. — SI.com, "Washed: How Arsenal & the New York Knicks Became the Laughing Stocks of Their Player Markets," 16 July 2019 Savings accounts that offer generous interest rates are emerging as a key battleground for financial upstarts. — John Detrixhe, Quartz, "Fintechs are competing to offer the highest interest rates for savings accounts," 23 July 2019 There is as much personal political advantage for the radical upstarts in being perceived as the president’s chief antagonists as for the president in branding them as such. — Andrew C. Mccarthy, National Review, "No One Really Wants to ‘Send Her Back’," 20 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'upstart.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for upstart
upstart
noun
English Language Learners Definition of upstart
disapproving
: a person who has recently begun an activity, become successful, etc., and who does not show proper respect for older and more experienced people
chiefly US
: a newly successful person, business, etc.
See the full definition for upstart in the English Language Learners Dictionary
upstart
noun
up·start
| \ ˈəp-ˌstärt
\
\
Kids Definition of upstart
: a person who gains quick or unexpected success and shows off that success
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