parvenu
noun
Did you know?
French has been generous in providing us with terms for obscure folks who suddenly strike it rich. In addition to parvenu, French has loaned us nouveau riche, arriviste, and roturier, all of which can describe a rich person of plebeian origins, especially one who is a bit snobby. Those colorful and slightly disparaging terms for the newly moneyed clearly show their French heritage, but it may be harder to see the French background of a term Massachusetts locals once used for coastal merchants made rich through the fishing trade: codfish aristocracy. Codfish comes from Middle English (beyond that its origin is a mystery), but aristocracy passed into English via Middle French (it is ultimately from Greek aristos, meaning "best").
Examples of parvenu in a Sentence
Kevin Mahnken, The New Republic, 1 Sep. 2020
Raveendran, at least on paper, assumes his place among those parvenus thanks to his effort in internet education.
—Saritha Rai, Fortune, 29 July 2019
Well, rejecting the pretensions of the peacocking parvenu is one of the sweetest pleasures left to the fallen aristocrat.
—Lili Anolik, Vanities, 19 June 2017
Dictionary Entries Near parvenu
Cite this Entry
“Parvenu.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parvenu. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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