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A.Word.A.Day--arriviste

arriviste (a-ree-VEEST) noun

1. A person who has recently attained high position or great power without due effort or merit; an upstart.

2. An unscrupulous, vulgar social climber; a bounder.

[French, from arriver, to arrive, from Old French ariver.]

"Even for those with little religious feeling, the spectacle of arriviste Alawite families from Syria's northern hills lording it over the grand old families of Damascus and Aleppo is hard to swallow." Bashar's world, Economist, Jun 17, 2000.

This week's theme: words to describe people.

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