Nouveau poor refers to a person who had once owned considerable wealth, but has now lost all or most of it. This term is generally used to emphasize that the individual was previously part of a higher socioeconomic rank, and that such wealth that provided the means for the acquisition of goods or luxuries is currently unobtainable. These people are not actually poor, but compared to their previous rank, it seems as if they are.

The trend of the once-middle class descending into a state of poverty has become increasingly prevalent in post-Recession USA.