parvenu

[ pahr-vuh-noo, -nyoo, pahr-vuh-noo, -nyoo ]

noun

1. a person who has recently or suddenly acquired wealth, importance, position, or the like, but has not yet developed the conventionally appropriate manners, dress, surroundings, etc.

adjective

1. being or resembling a parvenu.
2. characteristic of a parvenu.

parvenu

/ ˈpɑːvəˌnjuː /

noun

1. a person, esp a man, who, having risen socially or economically, is considered to be an upstart or to lack the appropriate refinement for his or her new position

adjective

1. of or characteristic of a parvenu

Other Words From

• parve·nudom noun
• parve·nu·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of parvenu¹

1795–1805; < French: upstart, noun use of past participle of parvenir to arrive, reach < Latin pervenīre, equivalent to per- per- + venīre to come

Word History and Origins

Origin of parvenu¹

C19: from French, from parvenir to attain, from Latin pervenīre, from per through + venīre to come

Example Sentences

The tendrils of Rangnick’s influence spread far beyond the parvenu clubs — Hoffenheim, Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig — that he has turned into mainstays of either the Bundesliga or the Champions League.

From New York Times

But Corya is no vulgar, narcissistic bully and parvenu.

From Slate

His mother, “born of samurai stock” and married to “a parvenu beneath herself,” succumbed to mental illness six months after Ryunosuke’s birth.

From New York Times

It was simply Woods, caddie Joe LaCava and the occasional passing of an inside-the-ropes parvenu—this writer included.

From Golf Digest

The first great misfortune that befell the U.S. and its allies came in November of 2016, when this small-minded parvenu was elected President.

From The New Yorker