What is the word for disingenuous fame chaser? (Different word than sellout)

Solution 1:

Such a disingenuous fame chaser might be referred to as either a social climber or a clout chaser. The former is probably a more widely accepted term; the latter is more of a slang term, but also more specifically disingenuous.


Merriam Webster defines "social climber" as:

one who attempts to gain a higher social position or acceptance in fashionable society

with an example of "At first glance, this version of Marion echoes the talentless social climber Susan Alexander, Charles Foster Kane’s mistress and second wife in Citizen Kane, widely believed to have been based on her."

Oxford (via Lexico) defines it as:

derogatory: A person who is eager to gain a higher social status.


"Clout chaser" doesn't show up in any standard dictionaries, but it's fairly commonly used (especially in the American rap music industry), with over 250k hits on Google Search.

It's defined by Slangit as:

someone who does and says things for the purpose of becoming more popular

and by Urban Dictionary (whose definitions one should generally take with a grain of salt, hence mentioning it second) as:

a person who strategically associates themselves with the success of a popular person or a currently contemporary trend to gain fame an attention