Nouveau riche (French for "new rich"), or new money, refers to a person who has acquired considerable wealth within his or her generation. This term is generally to emphasize that the individual was previously part of a lower socioeconomic rank, and that such wealth has provided the means for the acquisition of goods or luxuries that were previously unobtainable. The term can also be used in a derogatory fashion, for the purposes of social class distinction, to describe persons with newfound wealth as lacking the experience or finesse to use wealth in the same manner as old money—persons from families who have been wealthy for multiple generations.

The idea of nouveau riche and the struggle between the monetary elite is not a 21st century idea. According to David Gill, animosity between old inherited wealth and the appropriators of new wealth is often traced as far back as ancient Greece. Theognis, a sixth century B.C. aristocratic poet, 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.” This Greek poet wrote these words during a time in Greece, when money and economic growth in relation to trade gave rise to high class proprietors.

Social status is often defined in relation to wealth and the power that is acquired through wealth. It can be said that throughout time upper ruling classes legitimize “their rule with claims of status and honor and moral superiority.” Ruling classes have often made claims to superiority of inherited wealth through “blood…and the concept of proper breeding.” Nouveau riche is often juxtaposed against Old Money, or those with trans-generational wealth, in order to display the cultural and societal differences between the two groups. Old Family ties, as traditional claims of status, are not found in the nouveaux riches, which challenges and ultimately redefines social traditions such as institution of debutantes and their debut to society.

As seen through the rise in the number of debutantes, the social value of the debut has since shifted from the “family’s elite social standing and long family traditions” to “a symbolic value as an element of upper-class life style.” This transition allows for high social standing to be established by the nouveau riche through the institution of the debut. Social integration of these elite sects is extremely slow and sluggish, which prolongs and strengthens stereotypes. This rate of integration makes it more likely that the nouveaux riches will “retain identification with the traditional…group of origin; this is the basis for division between the groups.

Furthermore, the isolation that minority nouveaux riches experience within their own class leads them “to prioritize issues of radical justice, civil liberties, and religious tolerance over pure economic self-interest”

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