social climber

noun

: one who attempts to gain a higher social position or acceptance in fashionable society

social climbing noun

Examples of social climber in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Smith starred as Joyce Chilvers, a small-town social climber in postwar Northern England whose hunger to be accepted by the elite locals isn’t helped by her dotty mother nor her underachieving podiatrist husband Gilbert, played by Michael Palin. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024

Turning Merchant Ivory into eminent Victorians rather than complexly conflicted social climbers actually distances them from us, and that’s merely for Millennial convenience. —Armond White, National Review, 4 Sep. 2024

The sprawling period drama chronicles the great conflict between old money elites and new money social climbers in New York's glittering Gilded Age. —Shania Russell, EW.com, 12 Aug. 2024

Instead, Wiig takes center stage as Maxine Simmons, an ambitious social climber in the rarefied Palm Beach society. —Jordan Riefe, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

social climber

noun

: one who attempts to gain a higher social position or be accepted in fashionable society