Meaning & use
social climbers
Last updated
“social climbers” is a form of “social climber”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounpluraldisapproving
people who try hard to join a higher social class or group, often to gain status.
Grammar: Countable noun; singular is 'social climber'. Used mainly in the plural to talk about such people as a group.
Patterns
- social climbers who do something
- a pair of social climbers
The neighbors called them social climbers because they only invited rich people to their parties.
She moved to the city and became one of those social climbers who name-drop constantly.
Social climbers often spend more than they can afford to keep up appearances.
Word forms
| singular | social climber |
|---|
Common combinations
- a pair of social climbers
- Everyone at the club saw them as a pair of social climbers.
- be accused of being social climbers
- The couple were accused of being social climbers after they changed their friends.
- a family of social climbers
- The novel describes a family of social climbers in the 1920s.
Synonyms and how they differ
- status seekers
- This is a more neutral term for people who want higher status; 'social climbers' is more disapproving and suggests using people to get ahead.
- parvenus
- A formal, literary word for people who have recently gained wealth or status but are not fully accepted; much rarer than 'social climbers'.
Word family
- social climbing noun
- The activity of trying to improve your social status.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'social climbers' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
Answer 0 fits because 'social climbers' means people trying to rise in social status, often by knowing the 'right' people. The others use 'climbers' in a literal or unrelated way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “social climbers”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.