man on the make
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Restall’s Columbus was a man on the make, a social climber who used his marriage in 1479 to Felipa Moniz, the daughter of a minor aristocrat, to further his standing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
To all those around him, Kweku Adoboli appeared to be a man on the make whose career prospects and future earnings were taking off.
From The Guardian • Nov. 20, 2012
"Oxford was ... no place for the stupid young man on the make, who was ignored, nor for the man chary of brain in the larger interest�he was despised."
From Time Magazine Archive
He doesn't seem to know he's a cross between two classic American characters--the confidence man and the young man on the make.
From Time Magazine Archive
The careerist, or the man on the make, is of a thousand genera and species, varieties and subvarieties, with transition links between.
From The Glands Regulating Personality by Berman, Louis, M.D.
