Meaning & use
new money only
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformaldisapproving
Describing a place or group that is open to people whose families recently became rich, not to old wealthy families.
Grammar: Used after a noun or as a label: a club that is new money only.
Patterns
- a place that is new money only
- new money only clientele
- new money only neighborhood
The golf club is new money only, so the old banking families never joined.
Her restaurant became new money only once the tech founders started booking tables there.
He called the resort new money only, meaning it welcomed anyone with fresh cash.
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Used to say that a person or family owes its wealth to recent business success rather than to inherited money.
Grammar: Often follows a linking verb: they are new money only.
Patterns
- be new money only
- come across as new money only
They are new money only, having made their fortune in software over the last decade.
His grandparents were poor farmers, so the family is new money only.
She dislikes being described as new money only, though it is true.
Common combinations
- new money only crowd
- The new money only crowd filled the hotel bar every weekend.
- strictly new money only
- The guest list was strictly new money only, which annoyed the older families.
- new money only attitude
- His new money only attitude showed in the way he talked about his cars.
- new money only neighborhood
- They bought a house in a new money only neighborhood near the tech campus.
Synonyms and how they differ
- nouveau riche
- This is the more formal, often mocking French borrowing for the same idea of recently acquired wealth.
- upstart
- This focuses on the person's sudden rise in status and sounds more insulting than new money only.
- self-made
- This is approving and stresses personal effort, with no hint of social snobbery.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: new money only or old money?
new money only vs old money
Old money means inherited family wealth; new money only means wealth earned recently, and the two phrases are opposites in social tone.
Practice
The yacht club was described as new money only. What does this mean?
Choose one answer.
The phrase contrasts recent wealth with inherited wealth, so it describes a place that welcomes the newly rich. Option 0 is wrong because the phrase still marks a social distinction, and option 2 wrongly turns it into a banking rule.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “new money only”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.