Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Proud or arrogant because of your wealth: The term describes a person who feels superior, haughty, or excessively proud solely due to their financial riches, especially when they lack other admirable qualities or distinctions.

Usage

• The word is used as an adjective to describe a person's character or attitude. It is typically used in a critical or disapproving manner to highlight that someone's pride is based only on material wealth.
• It often implies that the person's wealth is their only claim to status, overshadowing a lack of personal merit, talent, or virtue.

Examples

• The purse-proud merchant looked down on his less affluent neighbors.
• Her purse-proud attitude made her very unpopular, as she constantly flaunted her expensive possessions.
• He was so purse-proud that he believed his money could buy him respect and friendship.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be used in broader social commentary to critique a culture or class perceived as valuing wealth above all else.
  • The novel satirizes the purse-proud aristocracy of the era.

Variants and Related Words

• Wealth-proud: A less common, synonymous construction.
• Proud (adj): Feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction. (Note: "Purse-proud" is a specific, negative subset of this general term).
• Arrogant (adj): Having an exaggerated sense of one's own importance.
• Haughty (adj): Arrogantly superior and disdainful.

Synonyms

• Snobbish
• Ostentatious
• Vain (in the context of wealth)
• Overbearing

Antonyms

• Humble
• Modest
• Unassuming
• Down-to-earth

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Flashing one's cash": To show off one's money in a boastful way, related to the behavior of a purse-proud person.
• "New money": Often used to describe individuals whose recently acquired wealth leads to purse-proud behavior, contrasting with "old money" which may be associated with more discreet wealth.

Adjective

1. proud or arrogant because of your wealth (especially in the absence of other distinction)