adjective

• Moving to a higher social class; acquiring wealth and status.

  ‘an upwardly mobile daughter returning to her roots’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Judging from the polls, they are even starting to attract upwardly mobile Hispanics who regularly attend church.’
  • ‘The film is set in an upwardly mobile neighborhood in suburban Massachusetts.’
  • ‘Every hurt, angry, upwardly mobile divorcing person is vulnerable to such fantasies.’
  • ‘Not uncommonly, her heroines are upwardly mobile, particularly through the agency of matrimony.’
  • ‘In the race to be upwardly mobile, we were falling sadly behind.’
  • ‘MPs judge their upwardly mobile colleagues according to their own prejudiced views about how junior ministers should behave.’
  • ‘The small upwardly mobile nuclear family is now separated by two TV sets.’
  • ‘Upwardly mobile Evangelicals used to mark their arrival in the local establishment by joining the Episcopalian or Presbyterian Church.’
  • ‘Upwardly mobile types set off for hikes up mountains in exotic locals.’
  • ‘These locations appeal to the same kinds of upwardly mobile buyers.’
  • ‘For the upwardly mobile bachelor on a budget, this tiny 350-sq-ft home could be the ideal stop-gap.’
  • ‘At least they're showing upwardly mobile ethnic minorities.’
  • ‘His vulnerability is compounded by the vehemence with which his upwardly mobile wife rejects traditional black vernacular values, including any interest in his parents.’
  • ‘He found his true position at Crewe Alexandra before moving to the upwardly mobile Leicester City club in 1997.’
  • ‘You'll likely find a brightly dressed pastor leading a trim and successful congregation of upwardly mobile families.’
  • ‘He made a fortune from trade and joined the gentry, but he was by no means the first upwardly mobile business magnate.’
  • ‘And, central among them, was the upwardly mobile son of a local farmer, Thomas Willis.’
  • ‘Normally, mentors are successful and upwardly mobile, enjoying high rank or position in the Army.’
  • ‘It seems that upwardly mobile social climbers find the snob appeal of double-barrelled names irresistible.’
  • ‘However, the Jocks are also more upwardly mobile.’